HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Stock Price Down 0.3% - Should You Sell?

Shares of HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) fell 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $10.05 and last traded at $10.06. 13,387 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 15,189 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

HireQuest Stock Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $10.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.18. The company has a market cap of $141.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.40 and a beta of 1.20.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.03 million. HireQuest had a return on equity of 13.80% and a net margin of 10.15%. On average, equities research analysts expect that HireQuest, Inc. will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. HireQuest's dividend payout ratio is 96.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HQI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of HireQuest by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 111,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 26,913 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in HireQuest in the 1st quarter valued at $317,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in HireQuest in the fourth quarter worth $309,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in HireQuest in the fourth quarter worth $287,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 62,604.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,676 shares of the company's stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 15,651 shares during 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.