Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Six of nine brokerages rate Herc Holdings a “buy,” while three recommend holding the stock. The average 12-month price target is $184.43, above the reported opening price of $141.02.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Herc reported earnings of $1.43 per share versus the $0.76 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.20 billion, up 20.2% year over year and ahead of forecasts.
• Herc declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, equivalent to $2.80 annually and a 2.0% yield. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s shares.

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $184.4286.

HRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Herc from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Herc from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Herc from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock opened at $141.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.87. Herc has a 52 week low of $88.45 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 95.93, a P/E/G ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 1.86.

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

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Herc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 190.48%.

Institutional Trading of Herc

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 14,281.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,268,318 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $755,161,000 after acquiring an additional 5,231,686 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Herc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,123,437 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $481,040,000 after purchasing an additional 413,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Herc during the fourth quarter valued at about $287,269,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Herc by 86,823.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,335,138 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $198,108,000 after buying an additional 1,333,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Herc by 17.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $115,872,000 after buying an additional 170,189 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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