H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on HEES. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on H&E Equipment Services from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HEES traded up $1.97 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $48.62. The stock had a trading volume of 386,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,600. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.29. H&E Equipment Services has a 1 year low of $33.65 and a 1 year high of $66.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 11.17%. The company had revenue of $371.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.52 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that H&E Equipment Services will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&E Equipment Services

In related news, CEO Bradley W. Barber sold 15,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.54, for a total value of $885,252.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 232,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,391,974.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Bradley W. Barber sold 15,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.54, for a total value of $885,252.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 232,742 shares in the company, valued at $13,391,974.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Bradley W. Barber sold 23,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $1,398,243.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,416,656.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,800 shares of company stock worth $4,534,789 in the last quarter. 12.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of H&E Equipment Services

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in H&E Equipment Services during the 4th quarter worth $11,827,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in H&E Equipment Services by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,501,000 after purchasing an additional 136,504 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management increased its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 150,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,486,000 after purchasing an additional 100,008 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,000,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,355,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,560,000 after buying an additional 74,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

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.