Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $183.48, but opened at $194.28. Herc shares last traded at $196.19, with a volume of 85,358 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Herc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.75.

Herc Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $208.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.34.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.33 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. Herc’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $1,065,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares in the company, valued at $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 27.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Herc by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 322 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Herc by 369.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 343 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 704.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 386 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

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.