Pier Capital LLC Raises Stake in Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Pier Capital LLC lifted its stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 16.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,040 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC owned about 0.17% of Herc worth $6,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRI. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Herc by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 438 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Herc by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 0.4% during the third quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 21,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,534,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Herc by 2.3% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Herc by 5.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,051 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock opened at $111.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -616.67, a PEG ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.73. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.18 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $153.69 and its 200 day moving average is $141.35.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.20. Herc had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 0.02%.The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Herc’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,555.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Herc from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Herc from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Herc presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.43.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE: HRI) operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company’s fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.