HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) Short Interest Up 33.0% in May

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 185,700 shares, an increase of 33.0% from the April 30th total of 139,600 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 17,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.6 days.

Institutional Trading of HireQuest

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HQI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in HireQuest by 233.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,932 shares of the company's stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 6,953 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in HireQuest by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 53,808 shares of the company's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 4,449 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in HireQuest by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 111,488 shares of the company's stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 26,913 shares during the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in HireQuest during the 4th quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in HireQuest in the 4th quarter valued at about $309,000. 12.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HireQuest Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:HQI traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.04. 6,751 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,225. The firm has a market cap of $140.56 million, a PE ratio of 91.27 and a beta of 1.20. HireQuest has a twelve month low of $9.04 and a twelve month high of $15.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $10.29 and its 200-day moving average is $12.64.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.04). HireQuest had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 4.04%. The company had revenue of $7.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.03 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HireQuest will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. HireQuest's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research cut their price objective on HireQuest from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

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.