Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYB) Stock Short Interest Climbs 156.4%

Key Points

• Short interest surged 156.4% in October to 1,223 shares, representing 0.1% of Kelly Services’ stock and about one day of average trading volume.
• Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from “sell” to “hold,” while the sole analyst covering Kelly Services also maintains a Hold consensus rating.
• Kelly Services beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.37 in EPS versus the $0.18 estimate and $1.04 billion in revenue versus $1.01 billion expected; it also pays a $0.30 annualized dividend yielding about 1.1%.

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,223 shares, a growth of 156.4% from the September 30th total of 477 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,233 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded Kelly Services from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kelly Services currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Kelly Services Stock Performance

Shares of KELYB stock opened at $27.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.98. Kelly Services has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $125.00. The company has a market capitalization of $951.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.51 and a beta of 0.86.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Kelly Services had a negative net margin of 6.73% and a positive return on equity of 2.69%.

Kelly Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.0750 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Kelly Services's dividend payout ratio is presently -3.84%.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc NASDAQ: KELYB is a workforce solutions and staffing company that connects employers with talent across a range of industries and skill levels. Its services include temporary and contract staffing, direct-hire and permanent placement, recruitment process outsourcing, and workforce management solutions.

The company serves organizations through specialized offerings for professional and technical roles, science and engineering, education, office and administrative functions, industrial positions, and other workforce categories.

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