Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.50.

Several research analysts have recently commented on HCSG shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Healthcare Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Healthcare Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Healthcare Services Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Healthcare Services Group news, COO Andrew Kush sold 15,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.24, for a total transaction of $362,497.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $528,500.84. This represents a 40.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Healthcare Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $279,379,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 454.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,405,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,080,000 after buying an additional 1,152,176 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group in the second quarter valued at about $22,406,000. Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Healthcare Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,845,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group in the second quarter valued at $10,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

Healthcare Services Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of HCSG opened at $21.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.63. Healthcare Services Group has a 12-month low of $15.13 and a 12-month high of $25.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.80.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. Healthcare Services Group had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 6.59%.The company had revenue of $470.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.44) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Healthcare Services Group will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Healthcare Services Group Company Profile

Healthcare Services Group, Inc (NASDAQ:HCSG) provides outsourced support services to healthcare and senior living facilities across the United States. Its primary customers include nursing homes, post-acute care centers, hospitals, assisted living communities and other healthcare-related facilities.

The company operates through two principal service areas. Its environmental services business provides housekeeping, laundry and linen management, waste handling and related services. Its dietary services business supports food procurement, meal preparation, dining operations and nutrition-related programs for residents and patients.

Healthcare Services Group was founded in 1976 and has historically focused on helping healthcare providers manage nonclinical operations through contract-based services.