Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $177.20.

HRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Herc from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE:HRI opened at $117.70 on Friday. Herc has a 52 week low of $109.39 and a 52 week high of $246.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40). The business had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $919.84 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. Equities analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is 37.79%.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Herc by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 6,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the 4th quarter worth $5,377,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth $62,982,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Herc by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Herc by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,299,000 after buying an additional 17,236 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.