Kforce
KFRC Small CapIndustrials · Staffing & Employment Services
Updated: Jul 6, 2026, 22:20 UTC
Price Chart
Key Metrics
Valuation Analysis
About the Company
Kforce Inc. provides professional staffing services and solutions in the United States. It operates through two segments, Technology, and Finance and Accounting (FA). The Technology segment provides talent solutions to its clients in disciplines, such as systems and applications architecture and development; data management and analytics; cloud architecture and engineering; business and artificial intelligence; machine learning; project and program management; and network architecture and security. This segment serves clients in the financial and business services, communications, insurance, retail, and technology industries. Its FA segment offers talent solutions to its clients in finance and accounting roles, including financial planning and analysis, business intelligence analysis, gene
Kforce Stock at a Glance
Kforce (KFRC) is currently trading at $50.48 with a market capitalization of $900.2M. The trailing P/E ratio stands at 25.62x, with a forward P/E of 17.21x. The 52-week range spans from $24.49 to $51.40; the current price is 1.8% below the yearly high. Year-over-year revenue growth stands at +0.1%. The net profit margin stands at 2.6%.
💰 Dividend
Kforce pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share, representing a yield of 3.13%. The payout ratio stands at 79.7%.
📊 Analyst Rating
3 analysts rate Kforce (KFRC) on consensus: None. The average price target is $42.33, implying -16.14% from the current price. Analyst price targets range from $38.00 to $47.00.
Kforce: The Investment Case in Detail
Kforce (KFRC) operates in the Industrials — specifically Staffing & Employment Services — and is headquartered in United States. Below is a structured read of the investment case built directly from the latest fundamentals, valuation multiples, analyst positioning and smart-money flows. Each section translates raw numbers into the investment logic they imply, so you can decide whether the risk/reward fits your portfolio.
The Bull Case
Return on equity of 27.1% places management among the most capital-efficient operators in the public market — every euro of shareholder capital is working hard.
The Bear Case
Revenue growth has slowed to just 0.1%, which is below nominal GDP — the business is no longer outgrowing the broader economy. With a net margin of just 2.6%, the business has little room to absorb cost shocks or pricing pressure — a single bad quarter can swing the company to a loss. Short interest sits at 10.26% of float — a meaningful contingent of professionals is positioned for the share to fall, which deserves attention even if their thesis may turn out to be wrong.
Valuation in Context
With a PEG ratio of 0.56, the price-to-earnings multiple is actually below the company's growth rate — classic value-meets-growth territory that Peter Lynch would have called a 'GARP' opportunity.
What to Watch Next
- The forward P/E of 17.21x is meaningfully below the trailing 25.62x — analysts expect earnings to step up; the next earnings release is the test.
- The share is trading at 96.6% of its 52-week range — a break above the recent high opens technical upside, a failure here often invites profit-taking.
Investment Thesis: Strengths & Weaknesses
- High return on equity (27.1% ROE)
- Solid dividend yield of 3.13%
- Positive free cash flow
- –Low profitability (2.6% margin)
- –High short interest (10.26%)
- –Price near 52-week high — limited upside cushion
Technical Snapshot
Price trades above both the 50- and 200-day moving averages, with 50d above 200d — a classic bullish setup (golden-cross alignment).
Risk Profile
The data points to relatively defensive market behavior, elevated short interest (10.26%).
Trading Data
💵 Dividend Info
Related Stocks in the Same Sector
Kforce (KFRC) 2026: 39,49 USD US Professional-Tech-and-Finance-Staffing Compounder at 13,5x Forward Earnings with 4 Percent Dividend Yield and Capital-Return Discipline
The Real Story
Kforce Inc. (NYSE: KFRC) is a Tampa, Florida-headquartered professional-staffing-services company providing technology-and-finance-accounting talent-solutions to approximately 4.000 clients across the US. Two segments: Technology (approximately 75 percent of revenue, providing IT-and-software-developer-and-engineer talent on contract-and-direct-hire basis) and Finance and Accounting (FA) (approximately 25 percent, financial-analyst-and-accountant talent).
The 2024–2025 period: tech-hiring-cycle compression from post-COVID-AI-driven-rationalization and Trump-2-administration uncertainty compressed contract-volumes. CEO Joe Liberatore (CEO since 2013) executed: aggressive share-buybacks (approximately 90 million USD annually representing 10-12 percent of float retired), dividend-increase (current 4 percent yield), and operational-cost rationalization.
What Smart Money Thinks
Kforce has institutional base. BlackRock at approximately 14,1 percent, Vanguard at approximately 11,2 percent represent passive flows. Dimensional Fund Advisors at approximately 5,3 percent, Wasatch Advisors at approximately 3,8 percent represent active small-cap value. CEO Liberatore holds approximately 2,4 percent directly. Short-interest sits at approximately 6 percent of float as of May 2026.
Explore the BMI Smart-Money Tracker →
📈 The 3 Real Bull Points
Kforce's approximately 90 million USD annual share-buyback program (10-12 percent of float annually) plus 4 percent dividend yield generates approximately 14-16 percent annual capital-return. Capital-return supports per-share-economics even at flat-EBITDA.
Post-2024 tech-hiring-cycle-compression appears to be inflecting in late-2025 with stabilizing-and-recovering contract-volumes. AI-talent-demand (LLM-engineers, ML-engineers, data-engineers) creates structural-tailwind for Kforce's Technology-segment through 2027-2028.
Kforce's 13,5x forward-P/E is at low-end of historical-mid-cycle 14-19x range. Re-rating on cycle-recovery to 16-19x on consensus fiscal-2027 EPS of approximately 3,60 USD supports 58-68 USD price range — 47-72 percent upside.
📉 The 3 Real Bear Points
AI-automation tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) may structurally reduce demand for entry-level-and-mid-level coding-and-development talent. If AI-substitution accelerates through 2026-2028, Kforce's Technology-segment-revenue could compress structurally.
Kforce contract-staffing revenue is structurally consumer-and-corporate-spending-cycle-correlated. A US-recession in 2026-2027 would compress contract-volumes 15-25 percent and EBITDA materially.
Larger staffing-peers plus continued offshore-resourcing trends compress Kforce's pricing-power. If competitive-pressure persists, margins could compress 100-150bps.
Valuation in Context
Kforce at 39,49 USD per share with approximately 17,8 million shares outstanding has a market capitalization of approximately 704 million USD. With approximately 50 million USD net-debt, enterprise value is approximately 755 million USD against trailing-twelve-month revenue of approximately 1,40 billion USD (approximately 0,5x EV/sales).
On forward-earnings, Kforce trades at approximately 13,5x consensus fiscal-2026 EPS of approximately 2,93 USD. Applying peer-blended fair-multiple of 16-19x to fiscal-2027 EPS of approximately 3,60 USD produces fair-value range 58-68 USD per share — 47-72 percent upside. Bear-case (AI-automation, recession) 28-32 USD. Bull-case 72-85 USD. 4 percent dividend.
🗓️ Next 3 Catalyst Dates
-
2026 Q3:
Q2 2026 earnings (early August 2026). Watch-items: contract-staffing-revenue trajectory, Technology-segment growth, buyback-pace.
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2026 Q4:
Q3 2026 earnings (early November 2026) plus fiscal-2027 preliminary guidance.
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2027 Q1:
Fiscal-2026 full-year results plus fiscal-2027 guidance.
💬 Daniel's Take
Kforce is a quality-cyclical US professional-tech-and-finance-staffing compounder with aggressive buyback-discipline, 4 percent dividend yield, AI-talent-tailwind optionality, and 13,5x forward earnings cyclical-fair-value. Position-sizing: 0,8–1,5 percent in cyclical-quality-yield sleeve.
Sources (3)
Disclaimer: This article is not investment advice. Investing in stocks carries risks, including total loss.
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