Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Cut to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Healthcare Services Group was downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment regarding the stock's performance.
• Several other analysts have raised their price targets for HCSG, with a consensus target price now at $16.00 and a majority rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Despite the downgrade, HCSG reported positive quarterly earnings, surpassing expectations with $0.21 earnings per share and a revenue growth of 7.6% year-over-year.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on HCSG. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Healthcare Services Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $12.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Healthcare Services Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Healthcare Services Group Stock Down 2.9%

HCSG opened at $13.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $966.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.64 and a beta of 0.57. Healthcare Services Group has a fifty-two week low of $9.13 and a fifty-two week high of $15.73. The company's 50-day moving average price is $14.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.35.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $458.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $450.78 million. Healthcare Services Group had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 11.74%. Healthcare Services Group's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 1,152.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 166,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 153,333 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 2,237,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,558,000 after acquiring an additional 20,720 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 176,825 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 22,834 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 829,322 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,633,000 after acquiring an additional 68,935 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 852.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,352 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 18,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.97% of the company's stock.

About Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group, Inc provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary.

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