Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.8571.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HRI shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Herc from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Herc from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Herc by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 438 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Midwest Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Herc by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Herc by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Herc by 53.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE:HRI opened at $100.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $146.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.36. Herc has a 12 month low of $96.18 and a 12 month high of $188.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -556.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.20. Herc had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 0.02%.The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,555.56%.

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.