HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI – Get Free Report) is one of 203 public companies in the “Professional Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare HireQuest to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Risk and Volatility
HireQuest has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HireQuest’s peers have a beta of 0.98, indicating that their average stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares HireQuest and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| HireQuest | 27.06% | 16.35% | 12.11% |
| HireQuest Competitors | -0.60% | 20.41% | 4.31% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
12.0% of HireQuest shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.4% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 42.9% of HireQuest shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
HireQuest pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. HireQuest pays out 42.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Professional Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.5% and pay out -163.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. HireQuest lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares HireQuest and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Net Income | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| HireQuest | $30.64 million | $6.33 million | 28.61 |
| HireQuest Competitors | $3.30 billion | $228.36 million | 29.80 |
HireQuest’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than HireQuest. HireQuest is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for HireQuest and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| HireQuest | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
| HireQuest Competitors | 1575 | 6431 | 9161 | 430 | 2.48 |
HireQuest presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.49%. As a group, “Professional Services” companies have a potential upside of 26.98%. Given HireQuest’s peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HireQuest has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.
Summary
HireQuest peers beat HireQuest on 9 of the 15 factors compared.
HireQuest Company Profile
HireQuest, Inc. provides temporary staffing services in the United States. It offers staffing services, including direct-dispatch, executive search, consultant, unskilled and semi-skilled industrial and construction personnel, clerical and administrative personnel, and permanent placement services, as well as commercial and non-CDL drivers, and skilled personnel in the medical and dental industries. The company provides its services under the HireQuest Direct, HireQuest, SNelling, DriverQuest, HireQuest Health, Northbound Executive Search, and MRI trade names. It serves construction, recycling, warehousing, logistics, auctioneering, manufacturing, hospitality, landscaping, and retail industries, as well as dental practices. HireQuest, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Goose Creek, South Carolina.
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