Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a growth of 14.6% from the September 30th total of 1,030,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 274,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HRI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Herc from $178.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Herc from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $212.25.

Herc Stock Performance

NYSE:HRI traded down $3.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $210.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 429,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 242,347. Herc has a 12-month low of $105.00 and a 12-month high of $214.62. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $157.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.07.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). The business 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 27.16%. Herc's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Herc will post 13.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Herc's payout ratio is 21.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total transaction of $925,713.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,415 shares in the company, valued at $5,632,047.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total transaction of $925,713.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,632,047.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.71, for a total value of $1,467,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 38,232 shares in the company, valued at $5,609,016.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,701 shares of company stock valued at $4,268,674 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRI. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Herc by 185.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 170,649 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,720,000 after purchasing an additional 110,922 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Herc by 18.4% in 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 during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 145.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 91,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $14,624,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the period. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in Herc in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,667,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Herc by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,936,945 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $494,288,000 after purchasing an additional 38,798 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.