Herc (NYSE:HRI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.40 EPS

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Thursday. The transportation company reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40), Zacks reports. Herc had a return on equity of 26.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $919.84 million.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of HRI stock traded up $5.77 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $201.12. 352,083 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,636. Herc has a twelve month low of $124.70 and a twelve month high of $246.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.04. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $198.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Herc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Herc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.