Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stock Holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,476 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Herc were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Phocas Financial Corp. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 51,192 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,622,000 after purchasing an additional 21,666 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth $1,552,000. Midwest Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Herc by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth $298,000. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on HRI. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Herc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.50.

Herc Stock Down 1.1 %

Herc stock opened at $152.27 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.51. Herc Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $93.97 and a one year high of $171.00.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.06 million. Herc had a return on equity of 28.68% and a net margin of 10.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.97%.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.80% 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.