Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.80.

A number of equities analysts have commented on HCSG shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Macquarie began coverage on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Healthcare Services Group from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Healthcare Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th.

Healthcare Services Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Healthcare Services Group stock opened at $11.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $865.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12 and a beta of 0.56. Healthcare Services Group has a 52-week low of $8.98 and a 52-week high of $13.00.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $428.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.95 million. Healthcare Services Group had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 12.59%. Healthcare Services Group’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Healthcare Services Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 100.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Healthcare Services Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 168,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 11.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 773,635 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,642,000 after acquiring an additional 76,456 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 39.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 560,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,858,000 after acquiring an additional 159,878 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 78,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

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.