Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 635,200 shares, a growth of 10.7% from the January 15th total of 573,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 617,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Kelly Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Kelly Services Price Performance

Shares of KELYA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.14. The stock had a trading volume of 374,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,028. Kelly Services has a 52 week low of $12.68 and a 52 week 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.27. The company has a market capitalization of $503.53 million, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Kelly Services had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.97%. On average, analysts forecast that Kelly Services will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kelly Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Kelly Services’s payout ratio is 26.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kelly Services

In other Kelly Services news, SVP Daniel H. Malan bought 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.88 per share, with a total value of $48,580.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 95,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,331,175.28. The trade was a 3.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kelly Services

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kelly Services during the third quarter valued at $196,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kelly Services in the third quarter worth about $781,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Kelly Services in the third quarter worth about $203,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Kelly Services by 1,730.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 234,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,011,000 after purchasing an additional 221,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Kelly Services by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. 76.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kelly Services Company Profile

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.