H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Down 45.3% in April

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a drop of 45.3% from the March 31st total of 1,920,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 912,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

H&E Equipment Services Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of H&E Equipment Services stock traded up $0.63 on Friday, reaching $90.72. 712,426 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 538,514. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03 and a beta of 1.74. H&E Equipment Services has a 52 week low of $40.93 and a 52 week high of $101.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm's 50-day moving average is $93.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.53.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.63). The company had revenue of $319.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.60 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. H&E Equipment Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HEES. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 108.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 298 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the first quarter worth about $134,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $242,000. 84.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HEES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, H&E Equipment Services currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.33.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc engages in the provision of equipment services, which focus on heavy construction and industrial equipment. It operates through the following segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, and Parts, Service and Other Revenues. The Equipment Rentals segment focuses on renting construction and industrial equipment.