Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Herc Holdings has an average analyst rating of "Hold" from nine brokerages, with five buy ratings, three holds, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is about $173.43.
• The company recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting EPS of $0.21 versus expectations for a loss, and revenue of $1.14 billion versus the $1.06 billion consensus. Revenue rose 32.3% year over year.
• Institutional investors remain heavily involved, with 93.11% of shares owned by institutions, and several funds recently increased their stakes. Herc also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, or $2.80 annualized, for a yield of about 1.7%.

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $173.4286.

HRI has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Herc in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Herc from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Herc from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Herc by 83.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 189,925 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,181,000 after buying an additional 86,282 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Herc in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,098,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 102,851 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $15,669,000 after purchasing an additional 22,367 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 69,196 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $10,267,000 after purchasing an additional 12,114 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Herc in the 4th quarter worth about $287,269,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Herc Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Herc stock opened at $162.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -601.21, a P/E/G ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.88. Herc has a fifty-two week low of $88.45 and a fifty-two week high of $188.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.28.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.42. Herc had a positive return on equity of 10.72% and a negative net margin of 0.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Herc's revenue for the quarter was up 32.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Herc will post 5.3 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 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. 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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