Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 670,000 shares, a decrease of 12.3% from the November 15th total of 763,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 320,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herc

In other news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,424.42. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 226.4% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 3,914 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Herc by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,049 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Herc by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 5,147 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Herc by 61.4% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 4,345 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Herc by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 198,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,439,000 after purchasing an additional 12,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRI has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.75.

Herc Price Performance

Herc stock traded down $4.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $194.88. 365,205 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.02. Herc has a 12 month low of $124.70 and a 12 month high of $246.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $209.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.81.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Herc will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is 21.75%.

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.