H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $56.59, but opened at $53.53. H&E Equipment Services shares last traded at $52.68, with a volume of 9,427 shares trading hands.

The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $384.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.18 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 10.53%. H&E Equipment Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio is 23.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 42.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $62,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $109,000. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.49.

About H&E Equipment Services

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.