Hays (LON:HAS) Price Target Cut to GBX 95 by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its price target for Hays (LON:HAS) from GBX 100 to GBX 95, signaling a potentially pessimistic outlook while maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• UBS Group has issued a "neutral" rating with a price target of GBX 70, which adds to the mixed analyst sentiment regarding Hays' stock.
• Hays' stock showed a 2.5% increase on the trading day following the news, currently priced at GBX 64 with a market cap of £1.01 billion.

Hays (LON:HAS - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Royal Bank Of Canada from GBX 100 to GBX 95 in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Separately, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a GBX 70 target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 93.33.

Hays Stock Performance

Shares of LON HAS traded down GBX 0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting GBX 62.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,818,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,391,902. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.81, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 65.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 70.66. Hays has a twelve month low of GBX 55.70 and a twelve month high of GBX 96.60. The firm has a market cap of £979.35 million, a PE ratio of -199.22, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.13.

Hays (LON:HAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported GBX 1.31 earnings per share for the quarter. Hays had a negative return on equity of 0.84% and a negative net margin of 0.07%. Research analysts predict that Hays will post 4.0966184 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joe Hurd acquired 1,923 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 64 per share, for a total transaction of £1,230.72. Also, insider Michael Findlay bought 34,382 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 58 per share, with a total value of £19,941.56. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 199,720 shares of company stock worth $12,442,128. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Hays