Hays (LON:HAS) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Hays shares reached a new 52-week high, rising to GBX 74.30 after Royal Bank of Canada increased its price target from GBX 60 to GBX 85 and maintained an “outperform” rating.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Hays has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of GBX 62.20, with ratings spanning Buy, Hold, and Sell.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of negative GBX 3.64, alongside a negative net margin and return on equity, while an insider recently purchased 5,672 shares at GBX 35 each.

Shares of Hays plc (LON:HAS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from GBX 60 to GBX 85. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Hays traded as high as GBX 74.30 and last traded at GBX 72.73, with a volume of 4973997 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.14.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HAS. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a GBX 33 price objective on shares of Hays in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a GBX 28 price target on shares of Hays in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 62.20.

Insider Activity

In other Hays news, insider Joe Hurd bought 5,672 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 35 per share, with a total value of £1,985.20. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Hays Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -110.19, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 60.68, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm's 50-day moving average price is GBX 50.89 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 41.29.

Hays (LON:HAS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported GBX (3.64) EPS for the quarter. Hays had a negative return on equity of 13.31% and a negative net margin of 0.91%. Sell-side analysts expect that Hays plc will post 4.0966184 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hays announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Hays

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