Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on RHI. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Robert Half from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.92.

Robert Half Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE RHI opened at $53.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 1.22. Robert Half has a 12 month low of $51.55 and a 12 month high of $79.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.70.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Robert Half will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. This is a positive change from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Robert Half’s payout ratio is presently 96.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robert Half

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners increased its position in Robert Half by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,554,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $602,867,000 after buying an additional 1,271,237 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Robert Half by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,079,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $569,288,000 after acquiring an additional 3,398,257 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Robert Half by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,433,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $241,930,000 after purchasing an additional 148,577 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Robert Half by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,217,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $226,740,000 after acquiring an additional 17,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its position in shares of Robert Half by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,251,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,644,000 after purchasing an additional 300,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.