Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $140.92, but opened at $149.99. Herc shares last traded at $145.1560, with a volume of 85,721 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HRI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Herc from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup boosted 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. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.00.

Herc Stock Up 4.6%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.90. 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 company has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 100.23, a PEG ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 1.86.

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

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 190.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Herc by 14,281.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,268,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $755,161,000 after acquiring an additional 5,231,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter valued at about $287,269,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the 2nd quarter worth about $86,054,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 667.9% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 573,149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $85,044,000 after purchasing an additional 498,511 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

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.