Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Northland Capmk

Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on shares of Quest Resource from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Resource from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Northland Securities initiated coverage on Quest Resource in a research note on Tuesday. They set an outperform rating and a $12.50 price objective for the company.

Quest Resource Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QRHC opened at $8.78 on Tuesday. Quest Resource has a 1 year low of $6.01 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.84 million, a P/E ratio of -31.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.49 and its 200 day moving average is $8.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The business services provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $73.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.50 million. Quest Resource had a positive return on equity of 5.61% and a negative net margin of 2.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Resource will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David P. Sweitzer sold 22,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $180,744.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,511 shares in the company, valued at $68,088. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, COO David P. Sweitzer sold 22,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $180,744.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,088. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David P. Sweitzer sold 16,047 shares of Quest Resource stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.52, for a total value of $136,720.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,513.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,481 shares of company stock valued at $484,129. Insiders own 22.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Resource in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Quest Resource in the 2nd quarter worth $145,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Resource by 453.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 18,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,115 shares during the period. Privium Fund Management B.V. increased its position in Quest Resource by 72.6% during the second quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 18,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 7,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Quest Resource in the second quarter valued at about $406,000. 48.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Resource Company Profile

Quest Resource Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for the reuse, recycling, and disposal of various waste streams and recyclables in the United States. The company provides disposal and recycling services for motor oil and automotive lubricants, oil filters, scrap tires, oily water, goods destruction, food waste, meat renderings, cooking oil and grease trap waste, plastics, cardboard, metal, glass, mixed paper, construction debris, as well as a large variety of regulated and non-regulated solid, liquid, and gas wastes.