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

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 954,400 shares, a decrease of 11.6% from the January 31st total of 1,080,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 384,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Herc Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of Herc stock traded down $3.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $129.67. The stock had a trading volume of 369,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,350. Herc has a 1 year low of $124.70 and a 1 year high of $246.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.80.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $934.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $919.84 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. On average, research analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.75.

Institutional Trading of Herc

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRI. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 878.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 186 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Herc by 646.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 224 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Herc during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.