Hays (LON:HAS) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Hays shares reached a new 52-week high of GBX 67.45, up from the previous close of GBX 66.50, with more than 2.2 million shares traded.
• Analyst views remain mixed: three analysts rate the stock Buy, one Hold and one Sell. The consensus rating is Hold, with a GBX 57.20 price target—below the current share price.
• Insiders recently bought shares, including a 485,500-share purchase by Mark Dearnley at GBX 30 per share. Hays has a £1.05 billion market capitalization and trades at a negative reported P/E ratio of -100.91.

Hays plc (LON:HAS - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 67.45 and last traded at GBX 67.45, with a volume of 2197258 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 66.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on HAS shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a GBX 28 target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a GBX 60 price target on shares of Hays in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a GBX 33 price target on shares of Hays in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 57.20.

Hays Stock Up 0.2%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 44.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 39.74. The firm has a market cap of £1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -100.91, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Hays declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, June 1st that allows the company to repurchase 0 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark Dearnley purchased 485,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 30 per share, for a total transaction of £145,650. Also, insider Joe Hurd acquired 5,672 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 35 per share, for a total transaction of £1,985.20. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hays Company Profile

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