Risk Intelligence
Core Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
How strong and defensively sound is the company?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Suggestions
HQI · NASDAQ
HIREQUEST INC
Private betaSector unavailable · Industry unavailable
$16.05
+1.33%
Close on Sep 11, 2026
Insufficient Data
Updated 12/18/2023
Long-term research evidence only. No price targets, no trading signals, no recommendations.
Investment Report Card
HIREQUEST INC
Sector unavailable · Data confidence partial
No Pro Investor Score today
SCORE_PENDING_OWNERSHIP
Long-Term Potential
Research Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
Does the business have the characteristics needed to create value over many years?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Fundamental Momentum
Research Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
Is the underlying business getting stronger or weaker?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Ownership Intelligence
Supplemental Intelligence
—
Not Available
Positive disclosed activity
What are important owners actually doing?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Valuation Intelligence
Research Model
F
37 / 100
Elevated
Is today's price reasonable?
Weaker than most covered companies on this measure — and valuation is researched separately from the Suggested Investment Score.
Capital Returns Intelligence
Research Model
C
61 / 100
Favorable Capital Returns
How effectively does the company reward shareholders?
Around the middle of the covered universe — and capital returns are researched separately from the Suggested Investment Score.
Why it stands out
- More disclosed holders are new or increasing than reducing or exiting.
What holds it back
- Elevated valuation: the current market price reflects a premium to this company's historical valuation and comparable companies (Valuation Intelligence 37 out of 100, Elevated).
Long-term view
Long-Term Potential is not available for this company, so no long-term reading is shown.
Ownership view
No disclosed ownership reading is available at the required confidence, so ownership is left blank rather than estimated.
Valuation view
HIREQUEST INC reads 37 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence, recorded as Elevated. The stock currently trades above most of its own recent valuation history and above comparable companies. This describes the price being paid relative to the company's financials — it is not a forecast and not a fair value. Valuation Intelligence is a research model and contributes nothing to the Suggested Investment Score or the daily ranking.
Capital returns view
HIREQUEST INC reads 61 out of 100 on Capital Returns Intelligence (Favorable Capital Returns), reflecting a dividend that has grown about 19.1% a year. Capital Returns Intelligence is a research model and contributes nothing to the Suggested Investment Score or the daily ranking.
What changed
No meaningful recorded changes in the stored history.
Risk Intelligence is a core model, Long-Term Potential, Fundamental Momentum, Valuation Intelligence and Capital Returns Intelligence are research models, and Ownership Intelligence is supplemental descriptive evidence. Valuation Intelligence and Capital Returns Intelligence each contribute 0% to the Suggested Investment Score. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Compare HQI with other companiesResearch Collections
This company does not currently satisfy any collection rule. That is a stored research result, not a judgement about the business.
Browse collections60-Second Brief
Too few stored readings exist for this company to summarise honestly.
Composite discovery model
Pro Investor Score
Pro Investor Score™
Score Pending — Insufficient Ownership Coverage
A composite score is only published when every required input is available for this company. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap, and exclusion from the ranking is not a sell instruction.
COMPOSITE DISCOVERY MODEL — RESEARCH STAGE · Ranking updated September 12, 2026
Researched separately
Valuation Intelligence 37 · Elevated
RESEARCH MODEL
Valuation Intelligence is currently researched separately and does not affect the Suggested Investment Score or daily ranking.
Researched separately
Capital Returns Intelligence 61 · Favorable Capital Returns
RESEARCH MODEL
Capital Returns Intelligence is researched separately and contributes 0% to the Suggested Investment Score, the daily rank or any ranking event.
Why this company scores the way it does
This company does not currently hold a stored Pro Investor Score, so no contribution breakdown can be shown.
Pro Investor Intelligence™
Reported by insiders, large shareholders and professional funds. Shown beside our research, never blended into it.
Loading professional-investor activity…
Stored snapshots only
What changed
Research-score history available since September 2026.
Stored research history does not yet cover a full 30 days comparison for this company.
A change is reported as meaningful at 8 score points, 5 rank places, or any change of research classification. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.
Learn the metrics on this page
Plain-English definitions, with the formula and the limitations of each measure.
Fifth research lens · outside the score
Valuation Intelligence
Valuation Intelligence
Is today's price reasonable?
Valuation Intelligence is currently researched separately and does not affect the Suggested Investment Score or daily ranking.
37/ 100
Elevated
RESEARCH MODEL
Excellent coverage
Compared with its history
40
Elevated
Is this company expensive or inexpensive compared with its own history?
Compared with peers
14
Expensive
How expensive is this stock compared with similar companies?
Earnings & cash flow
53
Reasonable
How much financial output does an investor receive relative to the price paid?
Growth-adjusted
40
Elevated
Does the company's growth help justify the valuation investors are paying?
HIREQUEST INC reads 37 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence, recorded as Elevated. The stock currently trades above most of its own recent valuation history and above comparable companies. This describes the price being paid relative to the company's financials — it is not a forecast and not a fair value.
Price data through September 11, 2026 · Financial data through the quarter ended June 30, 2026
Valuation history
Stored readings only. The dashed line is this company's own median for the selected measure.
Only one stored valuation reading exists so far, so there is nothing to chart yet. Valuation history builds forward from activation rather than being reconstructed.
Current P/E 27.3x · own median 28.5x · peer median 23.4x
Valuation is inherently uncertain. A stock that appears inexpensive can continue falling, and a stock that appears expensive can continue rising. Valuation Intelligence provides context about the price investors are paying — it does not predict short-term market movements, and it never produces a fair value, a price target or a buy or sell range. Model VALUATION_INTELLIGENCE_V1.
Sixth research lens · outside the score
Capital Returns Intelligence
Capital Returns Intelligence
How effectively does the company reward shareholders?
Capital Returns Intelligence is researched separately and contributes 0% to the Suggested Investment Score, the daily rank or any ranking event.
61/ 100
Favorable Capital Returns
RESEARCH MODEL
Excellent coverage
Dividend Quality
87
Exceptional Capital Returns
Dividend reliability
Buyback Effectiveness
42
Moderate Capital Returns
Do buybacks actually reduce shares?
The company spends on share repurchases, but much of that activity offsets share issuance rather than materially reducing the share count.
Dilution Control
43
Moderate Capital Returns
Is your ownership share protected?
Capital Return Sustainability
76
Strong Capital Returns
Can the cash flow support it?
Shareholder Yield
47
Moderate Capital Returns
Cash returned versus company value
HIREQUEST INC reads 61 out of 100 on Capital Returns Intelligence (Favorable Capital Returns), reflecting a dividend that has grown about 19.1% a year.
This company spent cash repurchasing stock, but the share count did not fall meaningfully because it also issued shares. Repurchase spending alone did not increase existing shareholders' ownership.
How returned cash was used
Dividends $3.36M · net repurchases $2.78M · total returned $6.14M · 65% of free cash flow
Price data through September 11, 2026 · Financial data through the quarter ended June 30, 2026
Capital returns history
Stored readings only. History builds forward from activation rather than being reconstructed.
Only one stored reading exists for this measure so far, so there is nothing to chart yet.
Why higher yield isn't always better
A very high dividend yield may reflect a falling share price or an unsustainable payout. Capital Returns Intelligence emphasizes consistency and sustainability rather than simply rewarding the highest yield.
Why buybacks can be misleading
Announced or gross buyback spending does not always mean shareholders are gaining ownership. Companies can simultaneously issue shares through employee compensation or acquisitions. Suggested Investments therefore considers actual share-count changes alongside repurchase spending.
What these terms mean
- Dividend Yield
- The annual dividend relative to the current share price.
- Payout Ratio
- The share of company earnings used to pay dividends.
- Free Cash Flow Payout
- How much of the company's available cash is being used for dividends.
- Share Repurchases
- When a company buys back its own stock.
- Dilution
- When the number of shares increases, reducing each existing share's percentage ownership of the company.
- Shareholder Yield
- A combined view of dividends and net share repurchases relative to the company's market value.
Capital Returns Intelligence describes how a company returns capital to shareholders. It is not a measure of stock-price performance, it does not predict future returns, and a strong reading is never a recommendation to buy. Dividends and repurchases can be reduced or stopped at any time. Model CAPITAL_RETURNS_INTELLIGENCE_V1, contributing 0% to the Pro Investor Score.
Stored daily snapshots only
Ranking history
| Today | Not ranked | No stored score |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days ago | Not ranked | No stored score |
| 90 days ago | Not ranked | No stored score |
| First suggested | Not yet suggested | |
| Highest rank | Not ranked | |
In the company’s own words
What this company does
HireQuest, Inc. (collectively with its subsidiaries, the "Company," "we," "us," or "our") is a Delaware corporation originally organized in Washington as Command Staffing, LLC in 2002. In 2005, Temporary Financial Services, Inc., a public company, acquired the assets of Command Staffing, LLC, and the combined entity changed its name to Command Center, Inc. On September 11, 2019, Command Center, Inc. reincorporated in Delaware and changed its name to HireQuest, Inc. following its acquisition of Hire Quest Holdings, LLC ("Hire Quest Holdings," and together with its subsidiary, Hire Quest, LLC, "Legacy HQ"). This acquisition is sometimes referred to as the "Merger." Hire Quest, LLC was formed as a Florida limited liability company in 2002. Hire Quest Holdings, LLC was formed as a Florida limited liability company in 2017. Since the Merger, we have made a number of acquisitions which are discussed in more detail below.
Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Market under the symbol "HQI." All references to "common stock" means the common stock of HireQuest, Inc., par value $0.001 per share.
Our principal executive office is located at 111 Springhall Drive, Goose Creek, SC, 29445 and the telephone number is (843) 723-7400. More information about us may be found at www.hirequest.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
On December 4, 2023 we completed our acquisition of ten locations of TEC Staffing Services ("TEC") in Arkansas in accordance with the terms of an Asset Purchase Agreement dated October 23, 2023 for approximately $9.8 million. TEC has been a provider of industrial staffing services to the employers and workers in Northwest and Central Arkansas for over 40 years. We funded this acquisition with existing cash on hand and a draw on our existing line of credit. We immediately entered into three franchise agreements with existing franchisees and sold the operating assets we acquired.
Quoted from the business section of this company’s 10-K filed March 31, 2026. Read the filing
Four distinct intelligence areas
The IA view
Risk Intelligence
Production core
55
Fundamentally Qualified
No prior period to compare
Business Quality qualification score from the locked IA Defensive Research Core. Price Risk stays a separate category and is never blended in.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Long-Term Potential
Research model
50
Ordinary Compounder
No prior period to compare
Durable business economics and reinvestment characteristics. Independent external validation is pending.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Fundamental Momentum
Research model
61
Accelerating
No prior period to compare
Direction and breadth of change in underlying business fundamentals. Not a price-momentum signal.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Elite Investor Activity
Supplemental
—
Insufficient Data
No prior period to compare
No tracked manager filings mapped to this company.
Intelligence history
Not enough stored history to chart HQI yet. A company needs at least two published research or ownership periods before a trend can be shown.
Share price
HQI price history
Closing prices adjusted for splits and dividends. Past prices do not indicate future results.
- 6M change
- +49.3%
- 1Y change
- +59.0%
- 3Y change
- +1.2%
- 5Y change
- -11.9%
- Max change
- +152.4%
Last stored close $16.05 · +59.0% over the selected range · 52 sessions shown
Balanced evidence
Why IA likes it
- More disclosed holders are new or increasing than reducing or exiting.
Risk and uncertainty
What IA doesn’t like
- No specific negative evidence is available. This is not evidence of low risk.
What would change our view
- Business Quality falling below the frozen qualification threshold.
- Price Risk moving to a less favorable category.
- A sustained reversal in the Fundamental Momentum research evidence.
- New material public ownership disclosures.
Public filings · descriptive only
Elite Investor Activity
Reporting holders
3
New holders
3
Increasing
0
Reducing
0
Exiting
0
Coverage
Excellent
Positive disclosed activity · Report period 2023-09-30 · Public 12/18/2023
| Manager | Change | Portfolio weight | Rank | Disclosed |
|---|
Insufficient high-confidence manager coverage.
Objective stored changes
What changed
No qualifying changes are recorded for this company in the stored research and filing history.
Ownership timeline
No high-confidence public ownership events are available.
General research only. Not personalized advice. Public filings may be delayed, amended, incomplete, or reflect positions that have changed since the reporting date.