Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Climb 5.4% – Should You Buy?

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)’s stock price was up 5.4% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $138.43 and last traded at $138.0630. Approximately 173,901 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 602,917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HRI shares. Zacks Research upgraded Herc from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Herc from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Herc from $176.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Herc currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.43.

Herc Stock Up 4.8%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.49, a P/E/G ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.67. Herc had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 1.01%.The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 2nd. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 190.48%.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter valued at about $287,269,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Herc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $86,054,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new stake in Herc in the 1st quarter worth about $21,866,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Herc by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $115,872,000 after buying an additional 170,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herc during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,070,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc, operating under the Herc Rentals brand, is an equipment rental supplier serving construction, industrial, government, commercial, and other customers. The company provides short- and long-term rentals of equipment used for construction, maintenance, infrastructure, remediation, and event-related projects.

Its rental fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling equipment, trucks and trailers, power-generation and climate-control systems, pumps, trench-safety equipment, tools, and general construction equipment.