Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI – Get Rating) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 842,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 325,764 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.88% of Herc worth $110,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Herc by 90.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 315 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in Herc during the third quarter worth $42,000. CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Herc by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Herc by 95.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 507 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new position in Herc during the first quarter worth $109,000. 96.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herc

In other Herc news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 6,141 shares of Herc stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $870,118.29. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 44,809 shares in the company, valued at $6,348,987.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Herc Stock Performance

HRI stock opened at $103.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 2.46. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.43 and a 1-year high of $162.46.

Herc (NYSE:HRI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The transportation company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $740.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.30 million. Herc had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 11.62%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 26th will be issued a $0.632 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 25th. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Herc’s payout ratio is currently 22.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on HRI shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Herc from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 21st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Herc in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.00.

Herc Company Profile

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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.