H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Up 41.3% in June

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 747,800 shares, a growth of 41.3% from the May 31st total of 529,100 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 283,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 3.2 %

HEES traded down $1.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.75. 247,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 253,466. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.89. H&E Equipment Services has a twelve month low of $38.06 and a twelve month high of $66.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.85.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $371.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.52 million. H&E Equipment Services had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 34.33%. H&E Equipment Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. H&E Equipment Services’s payout ratio is presently 23.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HEES shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&E Equipment Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, H&E Equipment Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HEES. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at about $62,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at about $170,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at about $205,000. Busey Bank acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at about $217,000. 84.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.