StockNews.com Lowers H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on HEES. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on H&E Equipment Services from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on H&E Equipment Services from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

H&E Equipment Services Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ HEES traded down $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $46.65. 446,492 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,937. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.98. H&E Equipment Services has a 12-month low of $32.33 and a 12-month high of $66.18.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $371.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.52 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 11.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.55%.

Insider Transactions at H&E Equipment Services

In other news, CEO Bradley W. Barber sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $555,747.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,896,740.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other H&E Equipment Services news, CEO Bradley W. Barber sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $555,747.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,127 shares in the company, valued at $12,896,740.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bradley W. Barber sold 1,092 shares of H&E Equipment Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.42, for a total value of $69,254.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 209,078 shares in the company, valued at $13,259,726.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,800 shares of company stock valued at $4,534,789. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at $205,000. Busey Bank bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter valued at $206,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 4th quarter worth $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

H&E Equipment Services Company Profile

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.