Herc (NYSE:HRI) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Herc (NYSE:HRI) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HRI. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Herc from $176.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.43.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of HRI opened at $138.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $154.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.72. Herc has a twelve month low of $88.45 and a twelve month high of $188.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 94.36, a P/E/G ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 1.86.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.67. Herc had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 1.01%.The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Herc will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Herc by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Herc by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 358 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Herc by 0.3% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 62,557 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,228,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

About Herc

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.