Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) Short Interest Update

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,030,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the December 31st total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 400,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.6 days. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Macquarie assumed coverage on Healthcare Services Group in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Healthcare Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Healthcare Services Group from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Healthcare Services Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.80.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Services Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 80.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 175,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after acquiring an additional 78,391 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Healthcare Services Group by 11.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 773,635 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,642,000 after buying an additional 76,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Healthcare Services Group by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,760,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,674,000 after buying an additional 50,375 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in Healthcare Services Group by 86.5% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 807,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,015,000 after buying an additional 374,301 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Healthcare Services Group by 39.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 560,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,858,000 after buying an additional 159,878 shares during the period. 97.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Healthcare Services Group Price Performance

HCSG traded down $0.06 during trading on Monday, reaching $11.03. 486,988 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,971. Healthcare Services Group has a 1 year low of $8.98 and a 1 year high of $13.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.27. The company has a market capitalization of $808.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.56.

About Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group, Inc provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary.