Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.8571.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Herc from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Herc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Herc from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Herc in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Herc by 20.3% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 438 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Herc by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Herc by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Herc by 5.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,051 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of Herc stock opened at $168.32 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.62. Herc has a 12-month low of $96.18 and a 12-month high of $212.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -66.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.28.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The transportation company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter. Herc had a negative net margin of 1.68% and a positive return on equity of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $745.00 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is -111.11%.

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.