Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Down 7.1% on Insider Selling

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)’s stock price was down 7.1% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $141.55 and last traded at $141.96. Approximately 194,067 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 195,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.82.

Specifically, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total transaction of $890,216.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 48,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,347,180.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,560,647.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Herc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.50.

Herc Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.29.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $858.06 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 28.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.97%.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 350,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,677,000 after acquiring an additional 45,427 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 34,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,192,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,011,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,837,432 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $337,484,000 after acquiring an additional 23,444 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Herc by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 287,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,222,000 after acquiring an additional 10,576 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

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.