Herc (NYSE:HRI) Trading Up 9.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) were up 9.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $153.59 and last traded at $156.3850. 81,522 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 592,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HRI. Citigroup lifted their price target on Herc from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Herc Stock Up 6.3%

The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -564.76, a PEG ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.04.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.42. Herc had a negative net margin of 0.11% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,037.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter worth about $287,269,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Herc by 86,823.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,335,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $198,108,000 after buying an additional 1,333,602 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its position in Herc by 667.9% in 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. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Herc by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,123,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $481,040,000 after buying an additional 413,719 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Herc by 305.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 425,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,148,000 after buying an additional 320,649 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.