Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $171.8571.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HRI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Herc from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock opened at $104.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $142.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.55. Herc has a 52 week low of $96.18 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of -582.11, a P/E/G ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.73.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.20. Herc had a net margin of 0.02% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,555.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herc by 8.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,301,975 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $151,889,000 after purchasing an additional 97,235 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the third quarter worth $7,876,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Herc by 397.5% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 6,690 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Herc by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 752,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $87,758,000 after purchasing an additional 84,586 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 80,484 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,685,000 after buying an additional 11,032 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

About Herc

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE: HRI) operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company’s fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.