The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Herc (NYSE:HRI) Price Target to $178.00

Herc (NYSE:HRI) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $155.00 to $178.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $152.50.

Herc Price Performance

Herc stock opened at $158.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $158.56 and its 200 day moving average is $139.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.27. Herc has a one year low of $93.97 and a one year high of $171.00.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.06 million. Herc had a return on equity of 30.21% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Herc will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is 21.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Herc by 213.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 235 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Herc by 576.1% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 311 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 315 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Herc by 363.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 338 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Herc by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 359 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental supplier. It rents aerial, earthmoving, material handling, trucks and trailers, air compressors, compaction, and lighting equipment, as well as generators, and safety supplies and expendables; and provides ProSolutions, an industry specific solution based services, such as pumping solutions, power generation, climate control, remediation and restoration, and studio and production equipment.