HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) was down 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $14.31 and last traded at $14.66. Approximately 19,177 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 32% from the average daily volume of 14,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of HireQuest from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

HireQuest Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $205.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.27 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.55.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. HireQuest’s payout ratio is 218.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HQI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 267,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,490 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 90,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HireQuest in the third quarter valued at $147,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 16.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 288.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 5,818 shares during the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HireQuest

HireQuest, Inc provides temporary staffing services in the United States. It offers staffing services, including direct-dispatch, executive search, consultant, unskilled and semi-skilled industrial and construction personnel, clerical and administrative personnel, and permanent placement services, as well as commercial and non-CDL drivers, and skilled personnel in the medical and dental industries.