Short Interest in H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Expands By 8.7%

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,250,000 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the November 30th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 263,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Approximately 3.9% of the company's shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HEES. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 104.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,410,554 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,304,000 after acquiring an additional 721,270 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 186.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 126,244 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $5,899,000 after buying an additional 89,128 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,489,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 36.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 237,785 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,575,000 after buying an additional 63,500 shares in the last quarter. 84.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.25.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:HEES traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.96. The company had a trading volume of 202,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 209,100. H&E Equipment Services has a twelve month low of $40.92 and a twelve month high of $66.18. 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 cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.84. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $55.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.23.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 company earned $1.46 EPS. H&E Equipment Services's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. H&E Equipment Services's dividend payout ratio is 27.92%.

H&E Equipment Services Company Profile

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.