Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires Shares of 14,140 Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,140 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,098,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HRI. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Herc by 176.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,462,000 after buying an additional 16,470 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 25.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 263,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,337,000 after acquiring an additional 53,054 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 114.7% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 584 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Herc during the second quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Herc during the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of HRI opened at $96.82 on Tuesday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.18 and a 1-year high of $188.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $139.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -537.88, a PEG ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.73.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. Herc’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,555.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their target price on Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Herc from $200.00 to $198.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Herc from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.86.

Herc Profile

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.