3 models fit HireQuest Inc. Common Stock (DE) and they disagree: 1 of 3 land within 15% of the average. The price is above every model.
Two or more of our models back this value.
Large premium(i)Silver69
Valued as a cyclical company: P/E comparison, EV/EBITDA comparison, Discounted cash flow, and Graham number.
ACCE opinionHireQuest Inc. Common Stock (DE) (HQI)
Fair value (3 models)
$9.90
ACCE price target
$17.10
Rating
Overvalued
Horizon
12 months
Fair value published on 18 Oct 2026, 16:04 CEST; previously $14.16 since 14 Oct 2026, 00:00 CEST.
ACCE price target published on 15 Oct 2026, 00:00 CEST.
Rating published on 18 Oct 2026, 16:04 CEST.
Price used: $16.18 at the close on 23 Oct 2026, 22:00 CEST.
Models: Discounted cash flow, P/E comparison, and Graham number.
Fair value: the average of the applicable valuation models (discounted cash flow, multiples, residual income, dividend discount, shareholder yield), each run on the latest financial statements and the market price shown. Opinion columns (fair value, target, rating) are shown apart from the data. Full methodology: acceinvestments.com/data/how-we-value-stocks
Conflicts of interest: The author holds no personal position in this security. General statement
Produced by ACCE Investments (acceinvestments.com)
Data
Price vs fair value
63.5% above
-38.8% to fair value
ACCE score
75
out of 100
Analysts
100% buy
2 covering
P/E
27.1x
forward 20.2x
1-year return
+89.0%
Dividend yield
1.47%
HireQuest Inc. Common Stock (DE) in four questions
Plain answers, details below
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Overview
ACCE thesis
HireQuest runs a franchise model for staffing: franchisees place temporary and temp-to-hire workers in blue-collar roles, and HireQuest collects royalties and fees on that volume rather than carrying the payroll itself, which explains the 100% gross margin and 41.3% operating margin. The structural appeal is that the company earns on placement activity without owning the wage risk or the balance sheet of the staffing operations. Revenue growth of 6.0% is modest, so the case rests on the franchise network extending its reach and on margins holding as the business scales. At a trailing P/E of 29.2 and a forward P/E of 20.2, the market is pricing in earnings growth ahead, and a deeper look should test whether that step-up in earnings is credible given cyclical sensitivity to industrial hiring. The stock is a $243M micro-cap with no index membership, so liquidity and coverage are thin and would need to be checked before any sizing discussion.
⚠ Investor warnings · 2 flagsAI-assisted·How I use AI
moderate
Thin valuation support, high multiples
P/E 28.7 and EV/EBITDA 20.4 against revenue growth of 6.0% YoY. Earnings growth of 156.8% is the main reason for the rich multiple, and a single year of earnings jump may not persist.
moderate
Concentrated insider ownership
Insiders hold 61.4% of shares while institutions hold 11.6%, leaving a small free float that can make the price more volatile on modest volume.
AI research notes
AI-assisted·How I use AIWritten Oct 13, 2026 · figures from 2026-06-30 · prices to Oct 23, 2026
Why it could do well
Revenue grew 6.0% over the past year, following a 5-year average growth rate of 17.3% per year.
Analysts are unanimous in their ratings, with 2 of 2 rating the stock Buy or Strong Buy, and their mean target sits 8.7% above the current price.
The latest quarter beat expectations, with earnings per share of $0.23 against $0.13 expected, a surprise of 76.9%.
Why it could disappoint
The stock trades at a trailing P/E of 28.7x, well above the sector's forward P/E median of 23.7x, though its own forward P/E is 20.2x.
Return on invested capital is only 7.6%, and free cash flow over the last 12 months was just $12M.
Each chip shows the exact figure and where it comes from. A claim without a source is not published.
Next results
Nov 5, 2026
We update the fair value about 2 days after the results, once the new figures are filed.Add to calendarGoogle
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Valuation
INVESTOR
Where HQI's valuation models land
Price
$16.18
Model fair value
$9.90
Model range
$7.15 to $13.47
Fair value $9.90
Price $16.18
The price is above the whole model range.
Model
Fair value
Upside
Discounted cash flow
EV/EBITDA comparison
Graham number
P/E comparison
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Quality
INVESTOR
Quality and conviction INVESTOR FEATURE
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+Conviction breakdown and growth / value / quality / momentum scores