National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of National Research from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on National Research from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, National Research currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

National Research Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NRC opened at $19.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $443.85 million, a P/E ratio of 78.04 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. National Research has a 1 year low of $11.01 and a 1 year high of $23.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.32.

National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.46. National Research had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 142.50%. The firm had revenue of $35.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 million.

National Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. National Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 256.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Research

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NRC. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of National Research in the 1st quarter worth about $118,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of National Research by 168.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 108,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 67,882 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of National Research by 394.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 52,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 41,806 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in National Research in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in National Research by 6.4% in the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.26% of the company’s stock.

About National Research

National Research Corp (NASDAQ: NRC), also known as NRC Health, is a healthcare analytics and performance improvement company specializing in patient and employee experience measurement. The company’s cloud-based platform enables healthcare providers to collect real-time feedback through patient satisfaction surveys, post-discharge outreach, and employee engagement tools. NRC Health integrates clinical, operational and financial data to deliver actionable insights that support quality improvement initiatives and value-based care programs.

Since its founding in the early 1990s and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, National Research has expanded beyond its regional roots to serve more than 1,600 hospitals and 12,000 care sites across the United States and Canada.