National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $25.00 and last traded at $25.0750, with a volume of 31,592 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NRC shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of National Research from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on National Research from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered National Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of National Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

National Research Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.13. The company has a market cap of $592.16 million, a P/E ratio of 92.91 and a beta of 0.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.24.

National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $38.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.80 million. National Research had a return on equity of 171.97% and a net margin of 4.48%. As a group, research analysts expect that National Research Corporation will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. National Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 228.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Research

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplex Trading LLC lifted its position in National Research by 556.4% during the 3rd quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of National Research in the 1st quarter worth $180,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in National Research in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Empirical Finance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Research during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,000. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. purchased a new position in shares of National Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $538,000. 47.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

National Research Company Profile

National Research Corporation, formerly traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol NRC, provides research, analytics and performance-improvement services to the health care industry. Through its NRC Health business, the company helps hospitals, health systems and other care organizations understand and improve patient, consumer and employee experiences.

Its offerings have included patient and employee surveys, market research, reputation management, loyalty and engagement programs, benchmarking, and software tools that turn feedback and other data into operational insights.