Herc (NYSE:HRI) Upgraded by BNP Paribas Exane to Hold Rating

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Herc (NYSE:HRI) to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.86.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRI opened at $143.77 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of -532.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.49 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.18. Herc has a one year low of $88.45 and a one year high of $188.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Herc had a positive return on equity of 10.72% and a negative net margin of 0.11%.Herc’s revenue was up 32.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Herc will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Herc’s payout ratio is currently -1,037.04%.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Herc by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,123,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $481,040,000 after buying an additional 413,719 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $287,269,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Herc by 86,823.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,335,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $198,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,602 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Herc by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,164,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,872,000 after purchasing an additional 170,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Herc by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 873,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $86,941,000 after purchasing an additional 103,047 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE: HRI) operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company’s fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.