Herc (NYSE:HRI) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Herc (NYSE:HRI) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.50.

Herc Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HRI stock opened at $146.94 on Thursday. Herc has a fifty-two week low of $93.97 and a fifty-two week high of $171.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $158.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.85. 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 (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $858.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Herc will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of Herc stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total transaction of $890,216.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 48,232 shares in the company, valued at $7,347,180.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Herc by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,973 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in Herc by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 2,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Herc by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 359 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 235 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

About Herc

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.