Herc (NYSE:HRI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Herc (NYSE:HRI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Herc from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Herc from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Herc in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Herc from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herc currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.20.

Herc Stock Down 1.6%

HRI stock opened at $134.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $128.37 and a 200 day moving average of $126.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of -53.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.28. Herc has a 52 week low of $96.18 and a 52 week high of $246.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The transportation company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $745.00 million during the quarter. Herc had a negative net margin of 1.68% and a positive return on equity of 16.32%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Herc’s payout ratio is presently -111.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 1st quarter valued at $530,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 71.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,290 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,021,000 after purchasing an additional 21,808 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,053,000 after purchasing an additional 5,554 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 9,564 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 75.8% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.