Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases Shares of 14,140 Herc Holdings Inc. $HRI

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,140 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,098,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Herc by 20.3% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 438 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Herc by 53.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 248 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Herc by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 21,721 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,534,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,051 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of Herc stock opened at $96.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.18 and a 52-week high of $188.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $139.98 and a 200-day moving average of $139.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -537.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.73.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.20. Herc had a net margin of 0.02% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Herc’s payout ratio is -1,555.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Herc from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Herc in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.86.

Herc 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.