Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) Cut to “Underperform” at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lowered shares of Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) from an outperform rating to an underperform rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $64.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on RHI. Truist Financial upgraded Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Robert Half from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Robert Half Stock Performance

Shares of Robert Half stock opened at $75.09 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41 and a beta of 1.24. Robert Half has a fifty-two week low of $57.05 and a fifty-two week high of $88.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.79 and a 200 day moving average of $66.50.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. Robert Half had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 4.84%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Robert Half will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Robert Half Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Robert Half’s payout ratio is currently 77.37%.

Insider Activity at Robert Half

In related news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $76,729.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $915,248.50. This represents a 7.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Robert Half

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 28.9% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,681,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $315,569,000 after buying an additional 1,049,005 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Robert Half during the third quarter worth about $1,792,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 9.2% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 152,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,741,000 after buying an additional 12,772 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 182.4% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 16,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 136.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 88,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,656,000 after buying an additional 50,995 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

About Robert Half

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.