HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA)

HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 9,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KELYA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kelly Services by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,707,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,972,000 after buying an additional 21,230 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kelly Services by 45.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,211,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,944,000 after purchasing an additional 380,035 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kelly Services by 35.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 682,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,620,000 after purchasing an additional 180,238 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Kelly Services by 5.2% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 615,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,183,000 after purchasing an additional 30,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kelly Services by 5.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 371,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,955,000 after purchasing an additional 20,520 shares during the period. 76.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Daniel H. Malan purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.88 per share, for a total transaction of $48,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 95,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,331,175.28. This trade represents a 3.79 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research dropped their price target on shares of Kelly Services from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Kelly Services Stock Performance

KELYA opened at $13.01 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $463.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.13. Kelly Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.68 and a 1-year high of $25.27.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The business services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.23). Kelly Services had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Kelly Services, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kelly Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Kelly Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

Kelly Services Profile

Kelly Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides workforce solutions to various industries. The company operates through five segments: Professional & Industrial; Science, Engineering & Technology; Education; Outsourcing & Consulting; and International. The Professional & Industrial segment delivers staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services providing administrative, accounting, and finance; light industrial; contact center staffing; and other workforce solutions.