Herc (NYSE:HRI) Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $175.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $165.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.60% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HRI. Weiss Ratings raised Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Herc from $176.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.43.

Herc Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE HRI opened at $145.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 1.86. Herc has a 52 week low of $88.45 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $153.62 and a 200-day moving average of $135.91.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Herc had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 1.01%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Herc will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Herc by 342.1% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Herc during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Herc during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Herc by 628.8% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 430 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Herc by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

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.