Hays (LON:HAS) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Hays plc (LON:HAS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 75.25 ($0.95) and last traded at GBX 76.94 ($0.97), with a volume of 53185 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 77.10 ($0.97).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HAS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 125 ($1.58) target price on shares of Hays in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 115 ($1.45) target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Hays Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.81, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of £1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,905.00, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 85.38 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 92.96.

Hays Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th will be given a dividend of GBX 2.05 ($0.03) per share. This represents a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 17th. This is a positive change from Hays’s previous dividend of $0.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hays

In other news, insider James Hilton sold 53,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 88 ($1.11), for a total value of £46,673.44 ($58,819.71). Also, insider Joe Hurd bought 2,208 shares of Hays stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 90 ($1.13) per share, with a total value of £1,987.20 ($2,504.35). 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Hays

Hays plc engages in the provision of recruitment services in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company provides qualified, professional, and skilled recruitment in permanent, temporary, and contractor formats to public and private sectors. It offers its recruitment services in the specialisms, such as accountancy and finance, banking and capital markets, construction and property, contact centers, education, energy, oil and gas, engineering and manufacturing, executive, financial services, health and social care, human resources, legal, life sciences, office support, procurement, resources and mining, retail, sales and marketing, sustainability, technology, and telecoms.