HireQuest (HQI) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

HireQuest, Inc. is a franchisor that supports a network of independently owned staffing offices serving businesses and workers across the United States. The company focuses primarily on flexible and temporary staffing, including general labor, light industrial, construction, hospitality, disaster recovery and other workforce categories.

HireQuest’s franchise brands and operating platforms include HireQuest Direct, HireQuest, Snelling, Trojan Labor and related staffing businesses. Through these offices, the company helps employers meet short-term, seasonal and project-based labor needs while connecting workers with temporary, temp-to-hire and, in some cases, direct-hire opportunities.

The company traces its origins to the staffing industry and expanded through acquisitions of established staffing brands and franchise networks. In 2019, Command Center changed its name to HireQuest, Inc. following its acquisition of Hire Quest Holdings. HireQuest is headquartered in Goose Creek, South Carolina, and its franchise-based model gives it a presence in multiple U.S. markets. Rick Hermanns serves as the company’s chief executive officer.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $18.48 to $19.80
• 50-Day Range: $12.75 to $20.04
• 52-Week Range: $7.38 to $20.84
• Volume: 15,772 shs
• Average Volume: 26,829 shs
• Market Capitalization: $261.46 million
• P/E Ratio: 24.80
• Dividend Yield: 1.28%
• Price Target: $19.00
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

HireQuest Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

HireQuest scored higher than 53% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 435th out of 651 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

HireQuest has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.67, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 2 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for HireQuest is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

HireQuest has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 12.50%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for HireQuest are expected to grow by 12.50% in the coming year, from $0.80 to $0.90 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of HireQuest is 33.00, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.90.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of HireQuest is 33.00, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 25.44.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

HireQuest has a P/B Ratio of 3.88. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.63% of the float of HireQuest has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

HireQuest has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 11.22, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in HireQuest has recently decreased by 5.30%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

HireQuest pays a meaningful dividend of 1.25%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

HireQuest does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of HireQuest is 42.11%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, HireQuest will have a dividend payout ratio of 26.67% next year. This indicates that HireQuest will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.35

News Sentiment

HireQuest has a news sentiment score of 0.35. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.53 average news sentiment score of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 3 news articles for HireQuest this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

2 people have searched for HQI on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 100% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.9 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, HireQuest insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

42.90% of the stock of HireQuest is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

12.00% of the stock of HireQuest is held by institutions.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/10/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Today: 10/02/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/05/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Industrials
• Industry: Professional Services
• Sub-Industry: Human Resource & Employment Services
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:HQI
• CIK: 1140102
• Web: www.hirequest.com
• Phone: (843) 723-7400
• Fax: 208-773-7467
• Employees: 75,000
• Year Founded: 2002

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for HireQuest: $19.00
• High Price Target: $19.00
• Low Price Target: $19.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +1.0%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.67
• Research Coverage: 3 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $0.57
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 33.00
• Forward P/E Ratio: 23.51
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $6.33 million
• Net Margins: 27.06%
• Pretax Margin: 30.66%
• Return on Equity: 16.35%
• Return on Assets: 12.11%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 2.74
• Quick Ratio: 2.74

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $30.64 million
• Price / Sales: 8.53
• Cash Flow: $0.95 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 19.88
• Book Value: $4.85 per share
• Price / Book: 3.88

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 13,900,000
• Free Float: 7,937,000
• Market Cap: $261.46 million
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 1.16