Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 22,041 Shares of Robert Half Inc. $RHI

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Robert Half Inc. by 48.5%, acquiring an additional 22,041 shares to now own 67,445 shares valued at approximately $3.68 million.
• Multiple large investors have shifted their positions in Robert Half, with notable increases from Charles Schwab and Point72 Asset Management, reflecting growing interest in the company.
• Robert Half announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, implying an annual yield of 6.4%, despite facing a revenue decline of 7.0% year-over-year.

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 48.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,445 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,041 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Robert Half worth $3,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Robert Half by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,618,177 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $197,372,000 after acquiring an additional 184,592 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its position in Robert Half by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,576,782 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $140,563,000 after acquiring an additional 325,241 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Robert Half by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,318,708 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $71,936,000 after acquiring an additional 298,368 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Robert Half during the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,175,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Robert Half by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 985,558 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $69,442,000 after acquiring an additional 375,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.41% of the company's stock.

Robert Half Price Performance

Robert Half stock traded up $1.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $36.41. 1,439,273 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,549,978. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.56. Robert Half Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $78.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 1.03.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. Robert Half had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 3.20%.The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Robert Half's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 134.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RHI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Robert Half from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Robert Half from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Robert Half presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.83.

Robert Half Profile

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.