Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 717,200 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the February 14th total of 680,200 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 197,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Herc Price Performance

Herc stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $158.15. 113,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 191,511. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.73 and a 200 day moving average of $133.75. Herc has a 1-year low of $93.97 and a 1-year high of $169.57. The company has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.27.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). Herc had a return on equity of 30.21% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $858.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Herc will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total transaction of $564,009.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 213.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 235 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 576.1% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 311 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 90.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 315 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 363.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 338 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 359 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. KeyCorp cut Herc from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 4th.

Herc Company Profile

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.