HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) Short Interest Update

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 144,200 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the November 15th total of 136,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

HireQuest Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of HQI stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.55. 18,861 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,570. The company has a market capitalization of $203.70 million, a P/E ratio of 133.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.35 and its 200 day moving average is $13.63. HireQuest has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $17.31.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. HireQuest’s payout ratio is currently 218.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HireQuest

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HireQuest in the third quarter valued at about $147,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in HireQuest by 288.2% during the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in HireQuest by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 131,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 5,007 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in HireQuest by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 267,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,464,000 after buying an additional 2,490 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,256 shares in the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.