Raymond James & Associates Sells 1,351 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,599 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,351 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Herc were worth $685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herc during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Herc during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Herc in the third quarter valued at $173,000. Versor Investments LP grew its position in shares of Herc by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 2,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Herc by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Herc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.50.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRI opened at $153.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $158.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.21. Herc Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $93.97 and a one year high of $171.00.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). Herc had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 30.21%. The business had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $858.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 14.75 EPS for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Herc’s payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Insider Activity at Herc

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total transaction of $564,009.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.