Healthcare Services Group’s (HCSG) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $17.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Healthcare Services Group Price Performance

Shares of HCSG opened at $10.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.87. Healthcare Services Group has a one year low of $8.94 and a one year high of $13.00. The company has a market capitalization of $788.10 million, a P/E ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.52.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. Healthcare Services Group had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 1.82%. The company had revenue of $428.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Healthcare Services Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HCSG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Healthcare Services Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,629,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,488,000 after acquiring an additional 167,779 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 9.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,057,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,766,000 after purchasing an additional 181,231 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 12.2% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,318,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,983,000 after purchasing an additional 142,997 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Healthcare Services Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 1,312,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,379,000 after purchasing an additional 20,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azarias Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Healthcare Services Group by 50.7% in the second quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,226,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,979,000 after buying an additional 412,704 shares during the period. 97.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.