Herc (NYSE:HRI) Trading Up 9.2% – Time to Buy?

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)’s share price shot up 9.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $153.59 and last traded at $156.3850. 81,522 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 592,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HRI. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Herc from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.67.

Herc Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -564.76, a P/E/G ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.04.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Herc had a negative net margin of 0.11% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The business’s revenue was up 32.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,037.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 342.1% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Herc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herc during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Herc during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 628.8% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 430 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

About Herc

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.