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

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) saw a large drop in short interest in 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 shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 912,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HEES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up previously from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 2,576.2% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 855,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,884,000 after purchasing an additional 823,510 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 1,238.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 689,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,778,000 after acquiring an additional 638,379 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,780,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 3,914.1% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 424,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,799,000 after purchasing an additional 414,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,134,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,493,000 after purchasing an additional 313,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of HEES stock opened at $90.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. H&E Equipment Services has a 1 year low of $40.93 and a 1 year high of $101.28.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.18. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $384.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.50 million. On average, equities analysts predict that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

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, New Equipment Sales, Used Equipment Sales, Parts Sales, and Services. The Equipment Rentals segment focuses on renting construction and industrial equipment.