Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

RHI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays cut their target price on Robert Half from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Robert Half from $65.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas cut Robert Half from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane cut Robert Half from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Robert Half from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.71.

Robert Half Stock Performance

NYSE:RHI traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.96. The stock had a trading volume of 341,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,487,726. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 1.06. Robert Half has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $78.41.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. Robert Half's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Robert Half will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. Robert Half's payout ratio is presently 118.00%.

Institutional Trading of Robert Half

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RHI. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Robert Half by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 85,878 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,051,000 after purchasing an additional 16,668 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 347.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,586 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 12,883 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 794 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $956,000 after acquiring an additional 4,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company's stock.

Robert Half Company Profile

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.