Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. sold 274,228 shares of Robert Half Inc., reducing its holdings by 3.4% to 7,805,369 shares, which accounts for approximately 2.1% of its portfolio.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Robert Half, with JPMorgan Chase reducing it from $47 to $45 and BNP Paribas downgrading their rating from "outperform" to "neutral."
• Robert Half announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, representing an annual yield of 5.97%, although its dividend payout ratio is currently high at 134.86%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,805,369 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 274,228 shares during the period. Robert Half makes up approximately 2.1% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 7.65% of Robert Half worth $425,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Robert Half by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,217,999 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $226,740,000 after buying an additional 17,338 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its stake in shares of Robert Half by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,251,541 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $158,644,000 after purchasing an additional 300,524 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Robert Half by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,109,561 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $148,677,000 after acquiring an additional 53,294 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Robert Half by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,975,037 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $139,161,000 after acquiring an additional 36,150 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,318,708 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $71,936,000 after purchasing an additional 298,368 shares in the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Robert Half Stock Performance

Robert Half stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.45. The stock had a trading volume of 2,541,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,598. Robert Half Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.96 and a fifty-two week high of $78.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Robert Half Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Robert Half's dividend payout ratio is currently 134.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RHI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Robert Half from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Robert Half from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial set a $55.00 price objective on Robert Half and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Robert Half from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Robert Half from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Robert Half currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.83.

About Robert Half

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.