Herc (NYSE:HRI) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herc (NYSE:HRI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on HRI. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $152.50.

Herc Stock Down 1.1 %

HRI stock opened at $152.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.27. Herc has a twelve month low of $93.97 and a twelve month high of $171.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.60.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.06 million. Herc had a return on equity of 28.68% and a net margin of 10.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Herc will post 14.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRI. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Herc during the 3rd quarter valued at about $775,000. Ziegler Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Herc by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in Herc by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Herc by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Herc by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 176,796 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $21,028,000 after acquiring an additional 6,944 shares during the period. 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.