H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) Shares Up 4.9% - Time to Buy?

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) rose 4.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $53.71 and last traded at $53.56. Approximately 97,871 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 266,056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HEES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.67.

H&E Equipment Services Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company's 50-day moving average price is $47.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.76.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $376.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.05 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that H&E Equipment Services, Inc. will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. H&E Equipment Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.55%.

Institutional Trading of H&E Equipment Services

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HEES. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 42.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 932 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.08% of the company's stock.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.