Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a growth of 11.2% from the May 31st total of 1,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 82,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 14.4 days. Currently, 6.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Kforce Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ KFRC traded down $1.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $60.98. 74,951 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 99,548. Kforce has a 12-month low of $53.75 and a 12-month high of $74.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10 and a beta of 0.89.

Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.58. Kforce had a return on equity of 36.39% and a net margin of 3.78%. The business had revenue of $351.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kforce will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Kforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Kforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew G. Thomas sold 4,801 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $294,925.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,780,255.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kforce news, insider Andrew G. Thomas sold 4,801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $294,925.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,780,255.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark F. Furlong sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.70, for a total value of $308,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,622,524.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,439 shares of company stock worth $1,015,114 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KFRC. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Kforce during the 1st quarter worth about $359,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kforce by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,167 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kforce by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kforce during the 1st quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Kforce by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Kforce from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

About Kforce

Kforce Inc provides professional staffing services and solutions in the United States. It operates through two segments, Technology, and Finance and Accounting (FA). The Technology segment provides talent solutions to its clients primarily in the areas of information technology, such as systems/applications architecture and development, data management and analytics, business and artificial intelligence, machine learning, project and program management, and network architecture and security.