Short Interest in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Declines By 11.6%

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 954,400 shares, a drop of 11.6% from the January 31st total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 384,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Herc Stock Performance

HRI stock traded down $3.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $127.59. The stock had a trading volume of 154,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,759. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.03. Herc has a fifty-two week low of $124.70 and a fifty-two week high of $246.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $934.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $919.84 million. Herc had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 26.48%. Analysts predict that Herc will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Herc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc's payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRI. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Herc by 878.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 186 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 646.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 224 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Herc by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Herc in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Herc by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 322 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $219.75.

Herc Company 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.