Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $80.70 and last traded at $80.70, with a volume of 242 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.60.

Korn Ferry Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.94 and a 200 day moving average of $70.42.

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The business services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $682.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.84 million. Korn Ferry had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Korn Ferry will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Korn Ferry Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Korn Ferry’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Debra J. Perry sold 5,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.30, for a total value of $387,024.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,180 shares in the company, valued at $3,384,994. This trade represents a 10.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary D. Burnison sold 16,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $1,205,089.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 356,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,424,298.20. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $6,329,320. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Korn Ferry

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KFY. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Korn Ferry during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,158,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 884.9% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 76,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,033,000 after acquiring an additional 68,765 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 216.4% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 25,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after acquiring an additional 17,132 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Korn Ferry by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 949,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,431,000 after acquiring an additional 62,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Korn Ferry in the 2nd quarter worth $653,000. 98.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.