H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Up 7.1% in September

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the August 31st total of 952,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 299,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter worth about $2,793,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 43.8% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 26.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 87,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,887,000 after purchasing an additional 18,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

H&E Equipment Services Price Performance

HEES stock opened at $49.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.85. H&E Equipment Services has a 1 year low of $38.06 and a 1 year high of $66.18.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.12). H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $376.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HEES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.