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

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $181.4286.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HRI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Herc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Herc from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Herc by 25.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 263,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,337,000 after purchasing an additional 53,054 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Herc by 362.8% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 700,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $92,236,000 after purchasing an additional 549,072 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in Herc by 27.9% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 6,523 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herc in the 2nd quarter worth $836,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Herc stock opened at $143.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of -56.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.78. Herc has a 52-week low of $96.18 and a 52-week high of $211.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.28, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.65.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The transportation company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Herc had a positive return on equity of 16.32% and a negative net margin of 1.68%.The company’s revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.35 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Herc will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -111.11%.

Herc Company 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.