Short Interest in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) Grows By 17.0%

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,090,000 shares, a growth of 17.0% from the January 15th total of 7,770,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Robert Half Stock Up 3.0 %

Robert Half stock traded up $1.76 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $60.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,620,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,308,436. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $68.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64 and a beta of 1.23. Robert Half has a 12-month low of $57.05 and a 12-month high of $83.25.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Robert Half will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Robert Half’s payout ratio is presently 86.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Robert Half

In other Robert Half news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $915,248.50. This trade represents a 7.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RHI. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $315,569,000 after buying an additional 1,049,005 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Robert Half during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,792,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Robert Half by 347.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 12,883 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Robert Half by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 270,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,232,000 after purchasing an additional 46,100 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Robert Half by 828.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 463,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,249,000 after purchasing an additional 413,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

Robert Half Company Profile

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.