Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) Short Interest Update

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 542,300 shares, a drop of 68.3% from the December 31st total of 1,710,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 575,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other Kelly Services news, SVP Daniel H. Malan bought 3,500 shares of Kelly Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.88 per share, for a total transaction of $48,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 95,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,331,175.28. This represents a 3.79 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kelly Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Kelly Services in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Kelly Services by 367.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Kelly Services by 109.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Kelly Services by 3,062.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,035 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Kelly Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $158,000. Institutional investors own 76.34% of the company’s stock.

Kelly Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KELYA traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $14.64. The stock had a trading volume of 273,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,948. Kelly Services has a twelve month low of $12.68 and a twelve month high of $25.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.20. The company has a market cap of $521.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.12.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The business services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Kelly Services had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kelly Services will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Kelly Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Kelly Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reduced their price target on shares of Kelly Services from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides workforce solutions to various industries. The company operates through five segments: Professional & Industrial; Science, Engineering & Technology; Education; Outsourcing & Consulting; and International. The Professional & Industrial segment delivers staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services providing administrative, accounting, and finance; light industrial; contact center staffing; and other workforce solutions.