Herc (HRI) Competitors

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

Is CAT or HRI a better dividend stock?

Caterpillar pays an annual dividend of $6.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Herc pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Caterpillar pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Herc pays out 325.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Caterpillar has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Herc has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Does the media favor CAT or HRI?

In the previous week, Caterpillar had 118 more articles in the media than Herc. MarketBeat recorded 126 mentions for Caterpillar and 8 mentions for Herc. Caterpillar's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Herc's score of 0.44 indicating that Caterpillar is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Caterpillar	79 Very Positive mention(s)	17 Positive mention(s)	24 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Herc	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CAT or HRI?

Caterpillar has higher revenue and earnings than Herc. Caterpillar 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
Caterpillar	$63.14B	3.97	$10.79B	$19.66	27.18
Herc	$3.57B	1.18	$211M	$0.86	146.71

Do analysts rate CAT or HRI?

Caterpillar currently has a consensus price target of $506.60, suggesting a potential downside of 5.20%. Herc has a consensus price target of $149.20, suggesting a potential upside of 18.25%. Given Herc's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Herc is more favorable than Caterpillar.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Caterpillar	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85
Herc	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CAT or HRI?

71.0% of Caterpillar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.1% of Herc shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Caterpillar shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Herc shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CAT or HRI more profitable?

Caterpillar has a net margin of 14.95% compared to Herc's net margin of 0.61%. Caterpillar's return on equity of 48.95% beat Herc's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Caterpillar	14.95%	48.95%	10.60%
Herc	0.61%	20.77%	3.38%

Which has more risk & volatility, CAT or HRI?

Caterpillar has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Herc has a beta of 1.81, suggesting that its stock price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Caterpillar beats Herc on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.