Herc (NYSE:HRI) Stock Price Down 6.1% After Earnings Miss

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) dropped 6.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $197.22 and last traded at $195.18. Approximately 167,488 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 282,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.86.

The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.40). Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Herc’s payout ratio is 21.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Herc by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,245,168 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $235,748,000 after acquiring an additional 508,359 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herc by 1,101.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,881 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Herc by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,628 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,663,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Herc by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 49,360 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares during the period. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herc during the 4th quarter valued at $512,000. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Price Performance

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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $199.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.18. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.04.

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.