Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 24,491 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 117.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,321 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,491 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.16% of Herc worth $6,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Herc by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Herc by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,609 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in Herc by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 2,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in Herc by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 1,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Herc by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 315 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE HRI traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $150.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 67,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 189,411. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.27. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.97 and a 1-year high of $171.00. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $158.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.84.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $858.06 million. Herc had a return on equity of 30.21% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. Herc’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.50.

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.