Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Herc Holdings, buying 1.94 million shares worth about $287.3 million and ending with roughly 5.82% ownership.
• Herc’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.21 versus a loss estimate and revenue of $1.14 billion, up 32.3% from a year earlier.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with an average price target of $165.67.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,936,036 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $287,269,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 5.82% of Herc as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,608 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Herc by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 438 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Herc by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Herc by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Herc by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,051 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HRI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Herc from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Herc from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Herc from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herc presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $165.67.

Herc Price Performance

Herc stock opened at $128.13 on Wednesday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.45 and a 12-month high of $188.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -474.56, a P/E/G ratio of 23.50 and a beta of 1.89. The firm's 50-day moving average is $117.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.42. Herc had a negative net margin of 0.11% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Herc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,037.04%.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc NYSE: HRI operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company's fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.

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