Barrington Research Raises Earnings Estimates for HireQuest

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) – Equities research analysts at Barrington Research boosted their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of HireQuest in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 12th. Barrington Research analyst K. Steinke now forecasts that the company will earn $0.50 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $0.44. Barrington Research currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for HireQuest’s current full-year earnings is $0.28 per share.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded HireQuest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HireQuest has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.00.

HireQuest Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ HQI opened at $9.17 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.63. HireQuest has a 52-week low of $7.75 and a 52-week high of $15.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.30 million, a P/E ratio of 50.94 and a beta of 1.22.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.11 million. HireQuest had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 7.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in HireQuest by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,246 shares during the period. GWN Securities Inc. boosted its position in HireQuest by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 16,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HireQuest by 67.8% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,627 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 5,685 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HireQuest during the first quarter valued at $317,000. 12.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. HireQuest’s payout ratio is 48.00%.

HireQuest Company Profile

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.