Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 42,714 Kforce Inc. $KFRC

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group acquired 42,714 Kforce shares worth approximately $1.25 million, joining other institutional investors that increased their holdings. Institutions and hedge funds collectively own 92.77% of KFRC.
• Kforce exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.73 in earnings per share versus a $0.70 consensus estimate and revenue of $349.33 million, up 4.5% year over year. The company issued third-quarter EPS guidance of $0.71–$0.79.
• Kforce declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, equivalent to a 2.8% annualized yield. Analysts’ average price target is $60.67, with the stock carrying an overall “Hold” rating.

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 42,714 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,249,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Kforce as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in shares of Kforce by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 499,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 117,290 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Kforce by 105.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,996 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 10,764 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Kforce by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 38,552 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 22,093 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in Kforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kforce during the 4th quarter valued at $738,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kforce Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KFRC opened at $56.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 0.87. Kforce Inc. has a one year low of $24.49 and a one year high of $61.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

• Kforce NASDAQ: KFRC Stock is a Workforce Recovery Play

Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $349.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.11 million. Kforce had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 30.34%. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Kforce has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.710-0.790 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kforce Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Kforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Kforce's dividend payout ratio is 75.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KFRC. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Kforce from $42.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Kforce from $38.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of Kforce from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kforce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Kforce in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.67.

Kforce Company Profile

Kforce Inc is a professional staffing services firm headquartered in Tampa, Florida, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol KFRC. The company specializes in connecting organizations with skilled talent in technology, finance and accounting, and related business functions. Through a nationwide network of offices, Kforce partners with clients across industries to deliver both flexible contract staffing and direct hire placement solutions.

Kforce's core offerings include temporary staffing, permanent placement, and project-based consulting engagements.

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