HireQuest's (HQI) "Outperform" Rating Reiterated at Barrington Research

Key Points

• Barrington Research reiterated an "Outperform" rating on HireQuest (HQI) with a $13.00 price target, implying roughly a 26.46% upside from the prior close.
• MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.00, reflecting mixed analyst coverage (one Buy, one Hold).
• HireQuest's board approved a $20.00 million share buyback (up to ~18.4% of shares), signaling management believes the stock may be undervalued.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Barrington Research in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $13.00 target price on the stock. Barrington Research's price target suggests a potential upside of 26.46% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HQI. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of HireQuest in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of HireQuest to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.00.

HireQuest Price Performance

HQI opened at $10.28 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88. HireQuest has a 52 week low of $7.38 and a 52 week high of $12.48. The company has a market capitalization of $143.92 million, a PE ratio of 22.84 and a beta of 1.04.

HireQuest declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 18.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HQI. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 5,685 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 67.8% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,627 shares during the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 16,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in HireQuest by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company's stock worth $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 12,246 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in HireQuest by 158.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,945 shares of the company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 6,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.00% of the company's stock.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc is a publicly traded holding company that provides equipment rental and workforce solutions across North America through two primary operating subsidiaries. Its Coast Equipment Rentals division offers a broad range of support equipment—such as pumps, trench safety systems, power and HVAC units, air compressors, light towers and generators—to the construction, industrial, municipal and environmental markets. Coast Equipment Rentals operates more than 135 branch locations in 36 U.S.

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