Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 93,581 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 973,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 93,581 shares during the quarter. Herc accounts for approximately 1.0% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 2.91% of Herc worth $96,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC increased its position in Herc by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Herc by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Herc by 5.1% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,051 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in Herc by 21.0% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Herc from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Herc from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Herc in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Herc currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.43.

Herc Trading Down 0.6%

HRI opened at $162.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Herc Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.45 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $142.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -601.21, a PEG ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Herc had a negative net margin of 0.11% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,037.04%.

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.