Herc (NYSE:HRI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $183.48, but opened at $194.28. Herc shares last traded at $196.19, with a volume of 85,358 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.75.

Herc Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $207.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.01.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $965.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.33 million. Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares in the company, valued at $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp raised its stake in shares of Herc by 265.6% in the second quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp now owns 9,534 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 6,926 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Herc by 1,230.2% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,522 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,869,000 after purchasing an additional 19,904 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 369.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 343 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc by 153.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 26,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,554,000 after purchasing an additional 16,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Herc by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 665,904 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,165,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.