Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 432,265 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 72.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 162,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 432,265 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Herc were worth $16,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Herc by 176.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 25,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,462,000 after buying an additional 16,470 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Herc by 25.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 263,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,337,000 after acquiring an additional 53,054 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Herc in the 2nd quarter valued at $267,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Herc by 12,425.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,918 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 20,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Herc by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 53,728 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,451 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on Herc from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

Herc Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:HRI opened at $153.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -567.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 1.89. Herc Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.45 and a twelve month high of $188.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.03.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Herc had a negative net margin of 0.11% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Herc’s payout ratio is -1,037.04%.

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.