Capital International Investors Grows Stock Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 58.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 561,377 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 208,158 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 1.98% of Herc worth $106,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Herc during the 4th quarter worth approximately $183,786,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Herc by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,245,168 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $235,748,000 after acquiring an additional 508,359 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Herc in the fourth quarter worth $71,211,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Herc in the fourth quarter valued at $62,982,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Herc by 578.8% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 231,130 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $43,760,000 after purchasing an additional 197,082 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Herc has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.20.

Herc Price Performance

HRI stock traded up $2.53 on Wednesday, reaching $104.87. The company had a trading volume of 877,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,552. The company's fifty day moving average is $136.05 and its 200 day moving average is $179.60. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.19 and a 1 year high of $246.88.

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

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Herc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Herc's payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

Herc Profile

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.