Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a decrease of 11.6% from the October 31st total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HCSG shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Healthcare Services Group from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Healthcare Services Group Stock Down 0.6 %

HCSG stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.38. The company had a trading volume of 85,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 489,962. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.94. Healthcare Services Group has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $13.00. The stock has a market cap of $907.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 0.55.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $428.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.95 million. Healthcare Services Group had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 2.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Healthcare Services Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 560,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,858,000 after acquiring an additional 159,878 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Healthcare Services Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 78,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 169.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,631,000 after buying an additional 91,733 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,760,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,674,000 after acquiring an additional 50,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Healthcare Services Group by 15.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the period. 97.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Healthcare Services Group Company Profile

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.