Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 670,000 shares, a decrease of 12.3% from the November 15th total of 763,700 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 320,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HRI. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Herc currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $219.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRI. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Herc in the third quarter valued at $35,996,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Herc by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 561,995 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $74,908,000 after purchasing an additional 87,330 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Herc by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 116,512 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $19,739,000 after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Herc by 8.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 736,809 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $117,470,000 after buying an additional 56,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Herc by 145.7% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 91,725 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $14,624,000 after buying an additional 54,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company's stock.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE:HRI traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.81. 304,519 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 253,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Herc has a 1-year low of $124.70 and a 1-year high of $246.88. The firm's 50-day moving average is $208.32 and its 200-day moving average is $164.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.02.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $965.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $931.33 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.00 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Herc will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Herc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.75%.

About Herc

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.