Herc (NYSE:HRI) Price Target Increased to $178.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Herc (NYSE:HRI) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $155.00 to $178.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Separately, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Herc has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $152.50.

Herc Stock Down 0.5 %

Herc stock opened at $150.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Herc has a 1-year low of $93.97 and a 1-year high of $171.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.09. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.27.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.06 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 30.21%. Herc’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Herc will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Herc’s payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Herc by 60.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,319 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 3,904 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Herc by 90.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 315 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 52.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 4,549 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Herc by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 28,368 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 1st quarter valued at $2,238,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Herc

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.