Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) from an underperform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. BNP Paribas currently has $71.50 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.92.

Robert Half Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE RHI opened at $57.91 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.71. Robert Half has a 52-week low of $57.05 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73 and a beta of 1.23.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Robert Half will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Robert Half’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of Robert Half stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $76,729.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,310 shares in the company, valued at $915,248.50. This trade represents a 7.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Robert Half

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RHI. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Robert Half by 613.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Robert Half during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Robert Half during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Robert Half by 79.7% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 433 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Robert Half by 121.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 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.