Herc (NYSE:HRI) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Herc from “hold” to “strong buy,” while other analysts have also raised ratings and price targets. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $184.43.
• Herc’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $1.43 versus the $0.76 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.20 billion, up 20.2% year over year.
• Shares opened at $138.71, down 1.2%, with a market capitalization of $4.64 billion. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 93.11% of the company.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Herc from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Herc from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Herc from $176.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Herc has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $184.43.

Herc Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:HRI opened at $138.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.36, a P/E/G ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 1.86. Herc has a 1 year low of $88.45 and a 1 year high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Herc had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 1.01%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Herc will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenland Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Herc in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,147,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the first quarter worth approximately $6,234,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Herc by 147.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 235,320 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $23,426,000 after purchasing an additional 140,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth $287,269,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herc during the second quarter worth $21,070,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc, operating under the Herc Rentals brand, is an equipment rental supplier serving construction, industrial, government, commercial, and other customers. The company provides short- and long-term rentals of equipment used for construction, maintenance, infrastructure, remediation, and event-related projects.

Its rental fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling equipment, trucks and trailers, power-generation and climate-control systems, pumps, trench-safety equipment, tools, and general construction equipment.

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