H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.25.

Separately, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 104.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,410,554 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,304,000 after acquiring an additional 721,270 shares in the last quarter. Loews Corp acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the second quarter worth about $5,742,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 186.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 194,102 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,449,000 after buying an additional 126,244 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 200.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 133,554 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,899,000 after buying an additional 89,128 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the third quarter worth approximately $3,489,000. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&E Equipment Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HEES traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.79. The company had a trading volume of 397,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,555. H&E Equipment Services has a fifty-two week low of $40.92 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.84.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $384.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $388.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. H&E Equipment Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.92%.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.