Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stake in Healthcare Services Group, Inc. $HCSG

Royce & Associates LP lowered its holdings in Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,292,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 572,102 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Healthcare Services Group were worth $43,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HCSG. 8 Knots Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group in the third quarter worth $56,527,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 80.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,981,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,354,000 after acquiring an additional 882,213 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 38.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,766,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,732,000 after acquiring an additional 487,608 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 1,116.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 448,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,746,000 after acquiring an additional 411,908 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group in the second quarter worth $4,653,000. Institutional investors own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on HCSG shares. Robert W. Baird set a $23.00 price objective on Healthcare Services Group in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Healthcare Services Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Healthcare Services Group from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Healthcare Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, William Blair raised Healthcare Services Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Healthcare Services Group news, CAO Andrew M. Brophy sold 2,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.75, for a total transaction of $54,157.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $342,236.25. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Healthcare Services Group Price Performance

Shares of Healthcare Services Group stock opened at $20.43 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.62. Healthcare Services Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.66 and a 52 week high of $24.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 0.85.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $462.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.79 million. Healthcare Services Group had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 3.67%.The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Healthcare Services Group, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

About Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group, Inc (NASDAQ: HCSG) is a leading provider of support services to healthcare facilities across the United States. The company specializes in environmental services, including housekeeping and sanitation, as well as linen and laundry management. In addition, Healthcare Services Group offers dietary and nutrition services, catering to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities and other long-term care providers.

Founded as a family-owned business in the late 1970s, the company completed its initial public offering in 1997.