Robert Half upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

Barclays analyst Manav Patnaik upgraded Robert Half (RHI) (RH) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $80, up from $60. In the U.S., while the labor market continues to soften, it is still resilient and the chances for a recession remain low, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm cites stable employment trends and improving confidence for the upgrade of Robert Half as part of its first half of 2025 employment playbook. Barclays continues to prefer shares of prefer First Advantage (FA), saying it benefits from the same macro trends and has “self help” in the form of deal synergies and continued share gains.