Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Down 7.1% on Insider Selling

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)’s stock price dropped 7.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $141.55 and last traded at $141.96. Approximately 194,067 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 195,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.82.

Specifically, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total transaction of $890,216.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 48,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,347,180.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total transaction of $890,216.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 48,232 shares in the company, valued at $7,347,180.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total transaction of $564,009.50. Following the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HRI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.50.

Herc Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $159.18 and its 200 day moving average is $142.29.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $858.06 million. Herc had a return on equity of 28.68% and a net margin of 10.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 14.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 350,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,677,000 after acquiring an additional 45,427 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 34,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,192,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,011,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,837,432 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $337,484,000 after purchasing an additional 23,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 287,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after purchasing an additional 10,576 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.