Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Short Interest Update

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

Herc Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Herc stock traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.81. 304,519 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,400. The firm has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. Herc has a 1 year low of $124.70 and a 1 year high of $246.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $208.32 and its 200 day moving average is $164.23.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $965.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Herc will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Herc’s payout ratio is 21.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HRI. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herc news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,600,408.32. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the business’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 transaction of $810,260.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,424.42. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRI. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 226.4% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,914 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Herc by 15,137.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,857 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 6,812 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp lifted its holdings in Herc by 265.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp now owns 9,534 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after buying an additional 6,926 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Herc by 1,230.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,869,000 after acquiring an additional 19,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in shares of Herc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

About Herc

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.