Herc (NYSE:HRI) Trading Up 3.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) shares shot up 3.3% on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $178.00 to $204.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Herc traded as high as $206.22 and last traded at $205.18. 149,942 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 233,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.60.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Herc in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herc from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $199.80.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In other news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total value of $925,713.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,632,047.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Herc news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 38,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,609,016.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 35,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,632,047.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 185.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 170,649 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,720,000 after acquiring an additional 110,922 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Herc by 18.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 561,995 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $74,908,000 after purchasing an additional 87,330 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Herc by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,898,147 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $431,505,000 after purchasing an additional 60,715 shares during the period. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Herc in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,667,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Herc in the second quarter worth $4,556,000. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Herc Trading Up 5.6 %

The company's fifty day moving average is $152.81 and its 200-day moving average is $146.81. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.07.

Herc (NYSE:HRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 26.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Herc's dividend payout ratio is 21.97%.

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.