H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the August 31st total of 952,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 299,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HEES. CWM LLC grew its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 42.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 46,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,047,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in H&E Equipment Services by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. 84.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 0.3 %

HEES stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,309. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.56. H&E Equipment Services has a twelve month low of $38.06 and a twelve month high of $66.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.85.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.12). H&E Equipment Services had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The company had revenue of $376.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. H&E Equipment Services’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. H&E Equipment Services’s payout ratio is presently 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.