Herc (NYSE:HRI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Herc (NYSE:HRI) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on HRI. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.50.

Herc Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Herc stock opened at $144.48 on Thursday. Herc has a one year low of $93.97 and a one year high of $171.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $159.03 and its 200 day moving average is $142.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.27.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). Herc had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 28.68%. The business had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Herc will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total value of $564,009.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 5,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.33, for a total value of $890,216.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 48,232 shares in the company, valued at $7,347,180.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 14.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 350,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,677,000 after acquiring an additional 45,427 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 34,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,192,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,011,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Herc by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,837,432 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $337,484,000 after acquiring an additional 23,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Herc by 3.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 287,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after acquiring an additional 10,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

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.