StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on KELYA. Northcoast Research lowered Kelly Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. Noble Financial decreased their price objective on Kelly Services to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 16th. Finally, Barrington Research decreased their price objective on Kelly Services from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st.

Kelly Services Stock Performance

Shares of KELYA traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.41. The stock had a trading volume of 572,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 189,536. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.29. Kelly Services has a 52 week low of $13.41 and a 52 week high of $23.00.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The business services provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Kelly Services had a negative net margin of 1.26% and a positive return on equity of 4.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kelly Services will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Kelly Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 24th. Kelly Services’s payout ratio is -18.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kelly Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KELYA. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Kelly Services by 131.6% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kelly Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Kelly Services by 7,115.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Kelly Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Kelly Services by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. 74.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kelly Services

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Kelly Services, Inc engages in staffing and workforce solutions. It operates through the following segments: Americas Staffing, Global Talent Solutions, and International Staffing. The Americas Staffing segment delivers temporary staffing, as well as direct-hire placement services, in a number of specialty staffing services, including office, education, marketing, electronic assembly, light industrial, science, engineering, and information technology in United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.