Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Trims Position in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) by 17.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,568 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Robert Half were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RHI. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Robert Half by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 69.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,132,000 after purchasing an additional 26,561 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Robert Half by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 98,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,585,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Robert Half during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Robert Half in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Robert Half from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Robert Half has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.00.

Insider Activity at Robert Half

In other news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $76,729.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $915,248.50. This trade represents a 7.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Robert Half Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:RHI opened at $74.61 on Friday. Robert Half Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $88.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.98. The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 1.23.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Robert Half had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 4.84%. Robert Half’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Robert Half’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.37%.

Robert Half Profile

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.