Engineers Gate Manager LP Trims Stake in Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Herc Holdings stake by 95.2% in the second quarter, selling 136,477 shares and retaining 6,844 shares valued at approximately $981,000.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 93.11%, with several major investors—including Norges Bank, Dimensional Fund Advisors, and Bank of America—buying or increasing their positions.
• Herc reported quarterly EPS of $1.43, well above the $0.76 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 20.2% year over year to $1.20 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $184.43.

Engineers Gate Manager LP lowered its position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,844 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 136,477 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Herc were worth $981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $287,269,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Herc by 17.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,872,000 after buying an additional 170,189 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 13.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 873,338 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $86,941,000 after acquiring an additional 103,047 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the second quarter valued at about $86,054,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Herc by 147.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 235,320 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $23,426,000 after acquiring an additional 140,355 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on HRI shares. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Herc from $176.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Herc from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Herc from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $184.43.

Herc Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE HRI opened at $135.38 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 firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 92.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.67. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.45 and a 52 week high of $188.35.

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

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Herc's dividend payout ratio is 190.48%.

Herc 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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