LPL Financial LLC Cuts Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

LPL Financial LLC decreased its position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,983 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 676 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Herc were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HRI. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Herc by 878.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 186 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Herc by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 368 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 460 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Herc by 564.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HRI. Barclays reduced their price objective on Herc from $250.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Herc presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.20.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of Herc stock opened at $111.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $132.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.75. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.19 and a 52 week high of $246.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($1.21). Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.79%.

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.