First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 145,381 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Free Report) by 53.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 418,509 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 145,381 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.47% of Herc worth $79,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 6,907 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,377,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter valued at $62,982,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Herc by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,058 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,299,000 after purchasing an additional 17,236 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Herc from $129.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on Herc from $250.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Herc from $165.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Herc from $225.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Herc has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.20.

Herc Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:HRI traded down $3.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $108.38. The company had a trading volume of 415,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,954. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $132.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.19 and a 52 week high of $246.88.

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

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Herc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Herc's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

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.