Foundry Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Foundry Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 7,074 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Herc were worth $4,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HRI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter worth approximately $183,786,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter worth $71,211,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter valued at $62,982,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Herc by 578.8% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 231,130 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,760,000 after purchasing an additional 197,082 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Herc by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 245,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,489,000 after purchasing an additional 129,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Stock Down 5.7 %

Shares of Herc stock opened at $122.47 on Friday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.74 and a 1 year high of $246.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $160.31 and a 200 day moving average of $183.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.40). The business had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $919.84 million. Herc had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 26.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HRI. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Herc in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Herc has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.20.

About Herc

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.