Herc (NYSE:HRI) Given New $178.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Herc (NYSE:HRI) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $155.00 to $178.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.62% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given 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 target price of $152.50.

Herc Stock Performance

Herc stock opened at $152.63 on Tuesday. Herc has a 12-month low of $93.97 and a 12-month high of $171.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $158.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.77.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). Herc had a return on equity of 30.21% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $858.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Herc will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In other news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HRI. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 51.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,589,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $294,967,000 after buying an additional 878,615 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,667,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $198,303,000 after buying an additional 457,697 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,505,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 374.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 366,165 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $48,176,000 after buying an additional 289,049 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,457,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.