Herc (HRI) Competitors

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and Herc (NYSE:HRI) are related companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Which has more risk & volatility, EWBC or HRI?

East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Herc has a beta of 1.86, indicating that its share price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EWBC or HRI a better dividend stock?

East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Herc pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. East West Bancorp pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Herc pays out 62.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. East West Bancorp has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Herc has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. East West Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is EWBC or HRI more profitable?

East West Bancorp has a net margin of 26.06% compared to Herc's net margin of 3.53%. Herc's return on equity of 24.10% beat East West Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
East West Bancorp	26.06%	15.09%	1.56%
Herc	3.53%	24.10%	4.30%

Do analysts recommend EWBC or HRI?

East West Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $114.15, suggesting a potential upside of 10.18%. Herc has a consensus price target of $139.20, suggesting a potential downside of 6.83%. Given East West Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than Herc.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
East West Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
Herc	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has better valuation and earnings, EWBC or HRI?

East West Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Herc. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Herc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
East West Bancorp	$4.53B	3.15	$1.17B	$8.56	12.10
Herc	$3.57B	1.19	$211M	$4.49	33.27

Does the media prefer EWBC or HRI?

In the previous week, East West Bancorp had 26 more articles in the media than Herc. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for East West Bancorp and 6 mentions for Herc. East West Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.87 beat Herc's score of 0.70 indicating that East West Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
East West Bancorp	7 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Herc	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in EWBC or HRI?

89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.1% of Herc shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Herc shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

East West Bancorp beats Herc on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.