Jefferies Financial Group Reiterates Underperform Rating for Hays (LON:HAS)

Key Points

• Jefferies reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on Hays with a GBX 28 price target, implying roughly an 18.51% downside from the prior close.
• Deutsche Bank cut its target from GBX 100 to GBX 90 while maintaining a "buy" rating; overall analyst coverage is mixed (three Buys, one Hold, one Sell) leaving a consensus rating of Hold with a consensus target of GBX 74.60.
• Hays has a market cap of £549.37m, a negative P/E (-52.06) and a 52-week range of GBX 28.68–77.50, and insiders bought 36,737 shares last quarter (insider ownership ~0.76%).

Hays (LON:HAS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued on Thursday,London Stock Exchange reports. They currently have a GBX 28 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective indicates a potential downside of 18.51% from the stock's previous close.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Hays from GBX 100 to GBX 90 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hays presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of GBX 74.60.

Hays Stock Performance

LON HAS opened at GBX 34.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of £549.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.82. The company's fifty day moving average is GBX 38.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 48.89. Hays has a 52-week low of GBX 28.68 and a 52-week high of GBX 77.50.

Hays (LON:HAS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported GBX 0.46 earnings per share for the quarter. Hays had a negative net margin of 0.16% and a negative return on equity of 2.24%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hays will post 4.0966184 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hays

In other Hays news, insider Michael Findlay bought 25,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 39 per share, with a total value of £9,945. Also, insider Helen Cunningham bought 6,237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 32 per share, for a total transaction of £1,995.84. Insiders have acquired a total of 36,737 shares of company stock valued at $1,389,084 over the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Hays

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