Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 16,366 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 68.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,556 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 16,366 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Herc were worth $1,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Herc by 4.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,019 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 49.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,058 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,299,000 after purchasing an additional 17,236 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 117.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 116,512 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $19,739,000 after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 13.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 103,724 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $16,537,000 after purchasing an additional 11,945 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 102,440 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $19,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HRI. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Herc from $250.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herc has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.20.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRI traded up $7.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $112.49. 141,623 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 357,883. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $134.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.19 and a 52 week high of $246.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($1.21). Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $841.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is a boost from Herc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc's dividend payout ratio is 37.79%.

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.