Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Short Interest Update

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, an increase of 61.4% from the February 13th total of 954,400 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 436,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Herc Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HRI opened at $128.17 on Monday. Herc has a 12-month low of $119.60 and a 12-month high of $246.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $178.66 and a 200-day moving average of $184.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40). Herc had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 5.91%. The firm had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $919.84 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Herc’s payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 693.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,001 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after buying an additional 12,236 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,049,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 105,571 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,988,000 after buying an additional 37,805 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 178.7% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 120,936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $22,897,000 after buying an additional 77,548 shares during the period. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,987,000. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.75.

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.