Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 670,000 shares, a decrease of 12.3% from the November 15th total of 763,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 320,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Herc Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:HRI traded down $4.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $194.88. The stock had a trading volume of 365,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.02. Herc has a 1-year low of $124.70 and a 1-year high of $246.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.81.

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

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.75%.

Insider Activity at Herc

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 226.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $752,000 after acquiring an additional 3,914 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Herc by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 43,049 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Herc by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 5,147 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its position in Herc by 61.4% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 4,345 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Herc by 6.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 198,358 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,439,000 after buying an additional 12,277 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.