Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Short Interest Update

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a growth of 14.6% from the September 30th total of 1,030,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 274,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HRI. Barclays boosted their price objective on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Herc from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Herc from $178.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herc has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.25.

Herc Trading Up 0.5 %

Herc stock traded up $1.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $211.42. 42,665 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 241,888. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.07. Herc has a twelve month low of $105.00 and a twelve month high of $214.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 27.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. Research analysts predict that Herc will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.97%.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In other news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $1,065,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $1,065,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,600,408.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.71, for a total transaction of $1,467,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 38,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,609,016.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,880 shares of company stock worth $3,342,960. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Herc in the first quarter worth about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Herc by 650.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 27.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Herc by 369.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 343 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Herc by 704.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 386 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.