The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Herc (NYSE:HRI) Price Target to $178.00

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $155.00 to $178.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the transportation company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.62% from the stock's current price.

Separately, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Herc presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.50.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of Herc stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.05. 296,885 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 190,294. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Herc has a 1-year low of $93.97 and a 1-year high of $171.00. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.27. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $158.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.40.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.29 by ($0.05). Herc had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 30.21%. The company had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Herc will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total transaction of $564,009.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Herc by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,898,147 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $431,505,000 after purchasing an additional 60,715 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Herc by 5.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,739,142 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $374,852,000 after buying an additional 149,439 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Herc by 37.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,667,255 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $198,303,000 after purchasing an additional 457,697 shares in the last quarter. Theleme Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Theleme Partners LLP now owns 817,891 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $121,776,000 after buying an additional 169,886 shares during the period. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 605,387 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $90,136,000 after buying an additional 20,358 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Herc

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.