Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 1,681 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI – Get Rating) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,850 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,681 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Herc were worth $2,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 315 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Herc in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Herc by 95.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 507 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Herc in the first quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Herc by 152.5% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 803 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HRI. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Herc from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Herc from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Herc in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.00.

Herc Trading Down 1.8 %

Herc stock opened at $105.41 on Friday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $83.43 and a one year high of $162.46. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 2.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.10 and a 200-day moving average of $127.01.

Herc (NYSE:HRI – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The transportation company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $740.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.30 million. Herc had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 11.62%. On average, equities analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 26th will be paid a $0.632 dividend. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 25th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.41%.

Insider Activity at Herc

In other Herc news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 6,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $870,118.29. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 44,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,348,987.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Herc Profile

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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.