Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.00.

HRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Herc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,123,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $481,040,000 after purchasing an additional 413,719 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Herc in the 4th quarter valued at $287,269,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Herc by 86,823.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,335,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $198,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,602 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Herc by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,872,000 after purchasing an additional 170,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Herc by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 873,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $86,941,000 after purchasing an additional 103,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI opened at $150.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.49 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.77. Herc has a 12 month low of $88.45 and a 12 month high of $188.35.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.67. Herc had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 1.01%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Herc will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 190.48%.

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.