Herc (NYSE:HRI) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup started coverage on shares of Herc (NYSE:HRI) in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $165.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.20.

Herc Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of HRI opened at $142.66 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.11. Herc has a 12 month low of $119.60 and a 12 month high of $246.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.40). Herc had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The company had revenue of $934.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $919.84 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Herc will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Herc by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,066,892 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $580,655,000 after purchasing an additional 27,578 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Herc by 435.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,419,015 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $268,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,245,168 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $235,748,000 after purchasing an additional 508,359 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter valued at about $183,786,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Herc by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 812,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,777 shares in 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.