HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) to Issue $0.06 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• HireQuest, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share, scheduled for payment on September 15th, with an ex-dividend date of August 29th.
• Despite a recent drop in stock price, HireQuest maintains a healthy payout ratio of 42.1%, indicating strong earnings support for its dividend.
• Analysts have revised their price target for HireQuest, decreasing it from $16.00 to $13.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating.

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, August 11th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.06 per share on Monday, September 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th.

HireQuest has a dividend payout ratio of 42.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect HireQuest to earn $0.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.9%.

HireQuest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HQI traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.24. 6,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,098. HireQuest has a twelve month low of $8.94 and a twelve month high of $15.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $10.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.16. The company has a market cap of $130.28 million, a P/E ratio of 51.33 and a beta of 1.22.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $7.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 million. HireQuest had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 7.47%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HireQuest will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,651 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in HireQuest by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of HireQuest by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 132,303 shares of the company's stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of HireQuest by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 53,808 shares of the company's stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 4,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of HireQuest by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,627 shares in the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HireQuest

HireQuest, Inc provides temporary staffing services in the United States. It offers staffing services, including direct-dispatch, executive search, consultant, unskilled and semi-skilled industrial and construction personnel, clerical and administrative personnel, and permanent placement services, as well as commercial and non-CDL drivers, and skilled personnel in the medical and dental industries.