H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Update

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 944,100 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the September 15th total of 1,020,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

H&E Equipment Services Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ HEES opened at $51.95 on Friday. H&E Equipment Services has a 12-month low of $38.06 and a 12-month high of $66.18. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.20.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $376.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.05 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on 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. Raymond James started coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.67.

H&E Equipment Services Company Profile

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.