Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $183.48, but opened at $194.28. Herc shares last traded at $196.19, with a volume of 85,358 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on HRI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herc currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.75.

Herc Stock Up 6.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $208.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.06.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The business had revenue of $965.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. Herc’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,600,408.32. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Herc

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Herc by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,867,000 after buying an additional 1,766 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Herc by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 21,126 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,000,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Herc by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 102,440 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Herc by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 103,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 11,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 116,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,739,000 after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Herc Company Profile

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.