Herc (NYSE:HRI) Trading Up 8.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) shot up 8.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $140.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Herc traded as high as $123.85 and last traded at $127.05. 86,033 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 391,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.09.

HRI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Herc from $250.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 878.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 186 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Herc by 1,831.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 309 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Herc by 646.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 224 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Herc by 53.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Herc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $120.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($1.21). Herc had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 3.53%. The firm had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $841.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Herc’s payout ratio is presently 62.36%.

Herc Company Profile

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.