Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $676.50 million for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 EPS.

Korn Ferry Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Korn Ferry’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 27th. Korn Ferry’s payout ratio is 31.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KFY has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Korn Ferry from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Korn Ferry from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Korn Ferry

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 193.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 425,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,050,000 after purchasing an additional 281,024 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Korn Ferry by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 949,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,431,000 after acquiring an additional 62,385 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Korn Ferry by 323.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 18,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 14,124 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Korn Ferry by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 72,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,455,000 after acquiring an additional 13,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Korn Ferry in the 3rd quarter worth $103,546,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.82% of the company’s stock.

Korn Ferry Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07.

About Korn Ferry

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.