American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 313,880 Shares of H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,134,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 313,880 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.06% of H&E Equipment Services worth $104,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HEES. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 144.0% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,138 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,745,000 after buying an additional 11,875 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,809,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 269,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,194,000 after buying an additional 66,400 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&E Equipment Services Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HEES stock opened at $95.97 on Tuesday. H&E Equipment Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.93 and a fifty-two week high of $101.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.11. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36 and a beta of 1.94.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.18. H&E Equipment Services had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 25.46%. The company had revenue of $384.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.50 million. Research analysts forecast that H&E Equipment Services, Inc. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HEES has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.33.

H&E Equipment Services Profile

H&E Equipment Services, Inc engages in the provision of equipment services, which focus on heavy construction and industrial equipment. It operates through the following segments: Equipment Rentals, New Equipment Sales, Used Equipment Sales, Parts Sales, and Services. The Equipment Rentals segment focuses on renting construction and industrial equipment.