Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $62.52, but opened at $68.70. Korn Ferry shares last traded at $68.67, with a volume of 70,290 shares traded.

The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $676.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.45 million. Korn Ferry had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 9.03%. Korn Ferry’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share.

Korn Ferry Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 27th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Korn Ferry’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Korn Ferry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KFY has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Korn Ferry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Korn Ferry

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Korn Ferry by 230.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Korn Ferry by 828.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $162,000. 98.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Korn Ferry Trading Up 7.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.78.

Korn Ferry Company Profile

Korn Ferry, together with its subsidiaries, provides organizational consulting services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consulting, Digital, Executive Search, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) & Professional Search. The company provides executive search services to recruit board level, chief executive, other senior executive, and general management talent of organizations.