Petrus Trust Company LTA Buys Shares of 10,379 Robert Half Inc. $RHI

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired 10,379 shares of Robert Half Inc., valued at approximately $566,000, in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors now own 92.41% of Robert Half's stock, with significant position increases from several firms, including AQR Capital Management LLC, which increased its stake by 27.2%.
• Robert Half announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 6.4% and a payout ratio of 134.86%.

Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new position in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,379 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RHI. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Robert Half by 540.8% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 487 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Robert Half in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Robert Half during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Robert Half by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 825 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Robert Half by 80.4% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,458 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on RHI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Robert Half from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.83.

Robert Half Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:RHI traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $35.91. 1,186,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,657,444. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.79. Robert Half Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $78.41.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. Robert Half's dividend payout ratio is presently 134.86%.

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.