H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Update

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a drop of 18.4% from the February 13th total of 2,340,000 shares. Currently, 6.0% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 968,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of H&E Equipment Services stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.03. The stock had a trading volume of 696,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,175. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.46. H&E Equipment Services has a 52 week low of $40.93 and a 52 week high of $101.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $384.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $372.50 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 25.46% and a net margin of 9.47%. Sell-side analysts predict that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. H&E Equipment Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

Institutional Trading of H&E Equipment Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 12,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 64,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,615 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 130,881 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,408,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HEES has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $92.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.33.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc engages in the provision of equipment services, which focus on heavy construction and industrial equipment. It operates through the following segments: Equipment Rentals, New Equipment Sales, Used Equipment Sales, Parts Sales, and Services. The Equipment Rentals segment focuses on renting construction and industrial equipment.