Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 29,600 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 303,059 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 29,600 shares during the period. Herc accounts for 1.4% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 1.06% of Herc worth $40,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Herc by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 41,381 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,835,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Vista Finance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herc during the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 1,067.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 30,482 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,771,000 after buying an additional 27,870 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herc during the 4th quarter valued at $946,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Herc by 564.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HRI. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Herc in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Herc from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Herc from $250.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.20.

Herc Price Performance

HRI traded down $5.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $113.52. 296,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 389,614. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The company's 50-day moving average is $120.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.01. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.19 and a 12-month high of $246.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($1.21). The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $841.67 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Herc's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.36%.

Herc Company Profile

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.