Herc (NYSE:HRI) Price Target Lowered to $135.00 at Citigroup

Herc (NYSE:HRI) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $165.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HRI. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Herc from $189.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $198.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Herc presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.71.

Herc Stock Performance

HRI stock opened at $103.72 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -576.21, a PEG ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.19. Herc has a fifty-two week low of $88.45 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Herc had a net margin of 0.02% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Herc’s payout ratio is -1,555.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Herc by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,527 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Herc during the 4th quarter worth about $179,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Herc by 87.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 51,588 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,655,000 after buying an additional 24,099 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP raised its holdings in Herc by 667.9% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 573,149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $85,044,000 after buying an additional 498,511 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Herc

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE: HRI) operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company’s fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.