Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stake in ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN - Free Report) by 158.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,789 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,607 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in ManpowerGroup were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in ManpowerGroup by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 437,495 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,252,000 after buying an additional 84,741 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in ManpowerGroup by 4,364.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 27,991 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 27,364 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in ManpowerGroup by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 748,246 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $43,189,000 after acquiring an additional 191,901 shares during the period. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. lifted its position in ManpowerGroup by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. now owns 33,148 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in ManpowerGroup by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 90,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,432 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on ManpowerGroup from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on ManpowerGroup from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen cut ManpowerGroup from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays raised ManpowerGroup from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on ManpowerGroup from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.60.

ManpowerGroup Price Performance

Shares of MAN traded down $2.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 786,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,936. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 1.08. ManpowerGroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.10 and a 1-year high of $78.22.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The business services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.08). ManpowerGroup had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The business had revenue of $698.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that ManpowerGroup Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ManpowerGroup Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. ManpowerGroup's payout ratio is currently 62.61%.

ManpowerGroup Profile

ManpowerGroup Inc provides workforce solutions and services worldwide. The company offers recruitment services, including permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment of professionals, as well as administrative and industrial positions under the Manpower and Experis brands. It also offers various assessment services; training and development services; career and talent management; and outsourcing services related to human resources functions primarily in the areas of large-scale recruiting and workforce-intensive initiatives.