H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Up 5.6% in January

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the December 31st total of 1,250,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 265,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on HEES. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Saturday, February 1st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up previously from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.25.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Up 0.4 %

HEES traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $88.18. The stock had a trading volume of 473,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,522,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 1.93. H&E Equipment Services has a twelve month low of $40.92 and a twelve month high of $90.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.40.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. H&E Equipment Services's payout ratio is presently 27.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HEES. State Street Corp grew its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 779,075 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $37,925,000 after acquiring an additional 21,805 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 755,017 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,762,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 1,238.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 689,911 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,778,000 after purchasing an additional 638,379 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in H&E Equipment Services during the fourth quarter worth $28,780,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 7.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,947 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,842,000 after buying an additional 41,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.08% of the company's stock.

About H&E Equipment Services

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.