Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $202.20.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HRI. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Herc in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Trading of Herc

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HRI. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Herc by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the third quarter worth approximately $3,891,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 2.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 21,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,456,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Herc during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,001,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Herc by 6.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,011,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Trading Up 4.8 %

HRI traded up $6.54 on Monday, hitting $142.15. 40,287 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,388. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Herc has a 12 month low of $119.60 and a 12 month high of $246.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.14.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40). The business had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $919.84 million. Herc had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 26.48%. Sell-side analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc’s payout ratio is presently 37.79%.

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.