Hays (LON:HAS) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Hays plc (LON:HAS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from GBX 60 to GBX 85. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Hays traded as high as GBX 74.30 and last traded at GBX 72.73, with a volume of 4973997 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.14.

HAS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 28 target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 33 price target on shares of Hays in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 62.20.

Insider Activity at Hays

In related news, insider Joe Hurd acquired 5,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 35 per share, for a total transaction of £1,985.20. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hays Stock Up 0.1%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 52.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 41.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 60.68. The firm has a market cap of £1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -115.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77.

Hays (LON:HAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported GBX (3.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Hays had a negative return on equity of 13.31% and a negative net margin of 0.91%. Analysts expect that Hays plc will post 4.0966184 earnings per share for the current year.

Hays declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, June 1st that permits the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hays Company Profile