The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Holdings in H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in H&E Equipment Services were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 88,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,687,000 after buying an additional 12,152 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 645.4% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 21,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 19,021 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter worth $1,233,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 688.1% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 18,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its position in H&E Equipment Services by 2,460.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 34,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 33,459 shares during the period. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HEES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James began coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp began coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday, August 9th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Performance

HEES stock opened at $51.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a PEG ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.45. H&E Equipment Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.06 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $376.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $382.05 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 10.53%. H&E Equipment Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that H&E Equipment Services, Inc. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. H&E Equipment Services’s payout ratio is 23.55%.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.