Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 71.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,290 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 21,808 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.18% of Herc worth $7,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the 1st quarter valued at $11,259,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Herc by 8.0% during the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,758 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Herc by 1,221.2% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 40,732 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,712,000 after buying an additional 37,649 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Herc by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,359,000. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRI has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Herc from $250.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $140.00 target price (up previously from $130.00) on shares of Herc in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.20.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of HRI stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $136.83. 685,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 416,840. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.47, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.86. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.19 and a 12-month high of $246.88. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $129.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last released 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). Herc had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 3.53%. The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $841.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Herc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.36%.

Herc 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.