Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 15,455 Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,455 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,926,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Herc as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Herc by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,066,892 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $580,655,000 after acquiring an additional 27,578 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Herc by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,245,168 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $235,748,000 after purchasing an additional 508,359 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter worth approximately $183,786,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Herc by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 812,270 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,211,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock traded up $2.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $111.89. The stock had a trading volume of 438,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 362,945. Herc Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.19 and a twelve month high of $246.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93. The stock's 50 day moving average is $126.92 and its 200 day moving average is $177.24.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($1.21). Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. The business had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $841.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Herc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.