Argent Capital Management LLC Buys 1,910 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Argent Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 38.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,907 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings in Herc were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HRI. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 322 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 369.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 343 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 704.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 386 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herc in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Herc Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HRI stock traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $202.94. 211,193 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 305,594. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $207.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.01. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.70 and a 1-year high of $246.88. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. Herc's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Herc's payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $810,260.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,424.42. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HRI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Herc presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.