HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) CEO Buys $99,757.12 in Stock

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) CEO Richard Hermanns bought 9,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.28 per share, with a total value of $99,757.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 2,951,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,339,189.24. This trade represents a 0.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Richard Hermanns also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 24th, Richard Hermanns purchased 422 shares of HireQuest stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,270.64.
• On Monday, December 22nd, Richard Hermanns purchased 18,854 shares of HireQuest stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.13 per share, for a total transaction of $172,137.02.

HireQuest Price Performance

NASDAQ:HQI opened at $10.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.87 million, a P/E ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.41. HireQuest, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.38 and a 12-month high of $15.75.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. HireQuest had a return on equity of 14.48% and a net margin of 21.92%.The company had revenue of $8.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 million. Research analysts anticipate that HireQuest, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 18.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. HireQuest’s payout ratio is presently 48.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HQI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of HireQuest in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson set a $15.00 price target on HireQuest in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of HireQuest in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HQI. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in HireQuest in the second quarter worth about $129,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HireQuest by 67.8% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the 1st quarter worth approximately $317,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 5,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in HireQuest by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 12,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc is a publicly traded holding company that provides equipment rental and workforce solutions across North America through two primary operating subsidiaries. Its Coast Equipment Rentals division offers a broad range of support equipment—such as pumps, trench safety systems, power and HVAC units, air compressors, light towers and generators—to the construction, industrial, municipal and environmental markets. Coast Equipment Rentals operates more than 135 branch locations in 36 U.S.