Herc (NYSE:HRI) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Herc (NYSE:HRI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $152.50.

Herc Price Performance

Herc stock opened at $146.90 on Thursday. Herc has a 12 month low of $93.97 and a 12 month high of $171.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $158.91 and its 200-day moving average is $143.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.27.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its 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). Herc had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 28.68%. The firm had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $858.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. Herc’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Herc will post 14.59 EPS 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 paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Herc news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of Herc stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total transaction of $890,216.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 48,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,347,180.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Herc by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,973 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 2,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Herc by 213.3% during 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 period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Herc by 4.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Herc

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.