Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI Shares Sold by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 65.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 28,626 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Herc were worth $2,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Herc by 14,281.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,268,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $755,161,000 after buying an additional 5,231,686 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Herc in the fourth quarter valued at $287,269,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Herc by 17.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,872,000 after buying an additional 170,189 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Herc by 13.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 873,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,941,000 after acquiring an additional 103,047 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the 2nd quarter worth about $86,054,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Stock Down 0.7%

HRI stock opened at $140.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.27, a P/E/G ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.45 and a 52 week high of $188.35.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.67. Herc had a net margin of 1.01% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. Herc’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 190.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on HRI. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Herc from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.43.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc, operating under the Herc Rentals brand, is an equipment rental supplier serving construction, industrial, government, commercial, and other customers. The company provides short- and long-term rentals of equipment used for construction, maintenance, infrastructure, remediation, and event-related projects.

Its rental fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling equipment, trucks and trailers, power-generation and climate-control systems, pumps, trench-safety equipment, tools, and general construction equipment.