From Motley FoolThe SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price has been...

From Motley Fool

The SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price has been a strong performer this year.

In fact, the job listings company’s shares have just hit a record high of $33.29.

When the SEEK share price hit that level, it meant it was up a solid 14% since the start of the year.

Why is the SEEK share price at a record high?

Investors have been bidding the SEEK share price this year on the belief that it will be a big winner from Australia’s economic recovery.

This is thanks to its domination of the local jobs market. For example, at the end of the first half, the SEEK ANZ business had 16 million candidate profiles, 35 million monthly visits, and 160,000 active hirers.

This led to SEEK having almost a third of all placements in the region, which was five times greater than its nearest rival. So with job ads recently hitting record highs, things are looking bright for SEEK.

What else is supporting its shares?

The most recent rise in the SEEK share price appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).

On Wednesday, analysts at Macquarie upgraded the company’s shares to an outperform rating with a significantly improved price target of $40.00. Based on the latest SEEK share price, this implies potential upside of 21% over the next 12 months.

Macquarie made the move due to its belief that SEEK will get a big boost on ad yields from the removal of discounts. In addition to this, the broker is forecasting Australia’s unemployment rate to fall to 4% in 2023. It expects this to underpin strong growth in ad volumes.

All in all, despite its strong rise in 2021, this broker doesn’t believe the gains are over just yet. This could make it worth considering if you’re looking for blue chip options.