Investors Purchase High Volume of H&E Equipment Services Put Options (NASDAQ:HEES)

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 2,308 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,096% compared to the typical volume of 193 put options.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:HEES traded down $0.75 on Wednesday, hitting $89.54. 2,325,761 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,912,189. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.59. H&E Equipment Services has a 52 week low of $40.92 and a 52 week high of $90.66. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.88.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.15). H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $384.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $388.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. H&E Equipment Services’s payout ratio is 27.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $109,000. L.M. Kohn & Company acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $203,000. 84.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.25.

H&E Equipment Services Company Profile

H&E Equipment Services, Inc engages in the provision of equipment services, which focus on heavy construction and industrial equipment. It operates through the following segments: Equipment Rentals, New Equipment Sales, Used Equipment Sales, Parts Sales, and Services. The Equipment Rentals segment focuses on renting construction and industrial equipment.