Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases Shares of 1,794 Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in Herc during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 90.9% during 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. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 152.5% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 803 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 53.2% in the 3rd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Herc by 95.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 507 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 6,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $870,118.29. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 44,809 shares in the company, valued at $6,348,987.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Herc in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Herc from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Herc from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Herc currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.00.

Herc Stock Up 2.0 %

HRI opened at $103.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.46. Herc Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.43 and a twelve month high of $162.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

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

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.632 per share. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 25th. Herc’s payout ratio is 22.41%.

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.