H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Update

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a decrease of 18.4% from the February 13th total of 2,340,000 shares. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 968,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

H&E Equipment Services Trading Up 0.9 %

H&E Equipment Services stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.65. The stock had a trading volume of 368,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,617. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. H&E Equipment Services has a 52-week low of $40.93 and a 52-week high of $101.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.83 and a 200 day moving average of $64.72.

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

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HEES has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $92.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.33.

Institutional Trading of H&E Equipment Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 12,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 64,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 130,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,408,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

H&E Equipment Services Company Profile

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.