Robert Half slides after CS downgrades to 'underperform' on valuation

Kforce

19/11/2020 19:07

** Shares of staffing and consulting co Robert Half
International  RHI.N  down 5.2% to $62.00 after Credit Suisse
downgrades to 'underperform' from 'neutral'
    ** RHI biggest S&P 500  .SPX  loser on Thurs
    ** CS analyst Kevin McVeigh says sees limited near-term
catalysts to re-rate shares further, amid valuation approaching
3-yr highs as employment likely remains below pre-COVID levels
well into 2021
    ** Also points to co's leverage - approx 80% - to SMB (small
and mid-size businesses) as less optimal than mid/large as
pandemic-related job losses more negatively impact SMB
    ** Sticks with $50 PT, suggesting ~24% downside to stock's
Weds close
    ** McVeigh garners 5 of 5 stars for past recommendation
performance on RHI by Refinitiv StarMine
    ** Avg rating among 13 analysts is 'hold'; median PT is $58
(Refinitiv)
    ** On Oct 23, RHI slumped ~8% after co's outlook
underwhelmed Wall Street  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HE19M
    ** Stock has roughly doubled from Mar pandemic lows and
trades at 21.7x NTM earnings. That's well above peers
ManpowerGroup  MAN.N  at ~17x and Kforce  KFRC.O  ~16x

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper.tr.com@reuters.net
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-332-219-1430))