Marshall Wace LLP Has $17.35 Million Stock Holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Marshall Wace LLP decreased its position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 68.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,613 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 194,891 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Herc were worth $17,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HRI. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Herc by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,019 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Herc by 49.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,299,000 after acquiring an additional 17,236 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Herc by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 116,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,739,000 after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 103,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 11,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 102,440 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Herc Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE HRI opened at $117.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Herc Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $109.39 and a one year high of $246.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40). Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $934.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $919.84 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.20.

Herc Company Profile

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.