Readystate Asset Management LP Trims Stake in Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Readystate Asset Management LP lessened its position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 15,755 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP’s holdings in Herc were worth $3,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Herc by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,123,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $481,040,000 after purchasing an additional 413,719 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter worth about $287,269,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Herc by 86,823.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,335,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $198,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,602 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Herc by 17.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,872,000 after buying an additional 170,189 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Herc by 13.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 873,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $86,941,000 after buying an additional 103,047 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:HRI opened at $141.01 on Monday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $88.45 and a one year high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.93, a P/E/G ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.97.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Herc had a net margin of 1.01% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 190.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 raised Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.00.

Herc 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.