Herc (NYSE:HRI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herc (NYSE:HRI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $152.50.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRI opened at $146.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Herc has a fifty-two week low of $93.97 and a fifty-two week high of $171.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.85.

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

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Herc’s payout ratio is presently 21.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total value of $890,216.52. Following the sale, 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 available at this link. In other news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Herc by 213.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 235 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Herc by 576.1% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 311 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Herc by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 359 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the third quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

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.