Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 660,200 shares, a decline of 8.5% from the August 15th total of 721,600 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 226,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kelly Services by 73.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 59,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,488,000 after buying an additional 25,219 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Kelly Services by 75.3% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,779,000 after purchasing an additional 64,820 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Kelly Services in the first quarter worth approximately $1,434,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Kelly Services in the 1st quarter worth $18,618,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Kelly Services by 178.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 155,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 99,699 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KELYA. StockNews.com cut Kelly Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Kelly Services in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Kelly Services Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ KELYA traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $21.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 28,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,474. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Kelly Services has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $25.27. The firm has a market cap of $759.46 million, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.34.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The business services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.15. Kelly Services had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 1.09%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Kelly Services will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kelly Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Kelly Services’s payout ratio is 21.58%.

Kelly Services Company Profile

Kelly Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides workforce solutions to various industries. The company operates through five segments: Professional & Industrial; Science, Engineering & Technology; Education; Outsourcing & Consulting; and International. The Professional & Industrial segment delivers staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services providing administrative, accounting, and finance; light industrial; contact center staffing; and other workforce solutions.