Hays (LON:HAS) Receives Underperform Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Hays (LON:HAS)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,London Stock Exchange reports. They presently have a GBX 28 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 57.96% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HAS. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 33 target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 60 price objective on shares of Hays in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 57.20.

Hays Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Hays stock opened at GBX 66.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of £1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. Hays has a 52-week low of GBX 28.68 and a 52-week high of GBX 72.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 49.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 40.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55.

Hays (LON:HAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported GBX (3.64) EPS for the quarter. Hays had a negative net margin of 0.16% and a negative return on equity of 2.24%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hays will post 4.0966184 earnings per share for the current year.

Hays announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joe Hurd acquired 5,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 35 per share, with a total value of £1,985.20. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hays Company Profile