Granite Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 23,416 Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Granite Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 23,416 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,331,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Herc at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Herc by 342.1% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Herc in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Herc by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Herc during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Herc Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of HRI stock opened at $144.86 on Friday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.45 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $139.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -536.51, a PEG ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.88.

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

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,037.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HRI. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Herc from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Herc in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Herc currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.86.

Herc 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.