Phocas Financial Corp. Cuts Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its holdings in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 85.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,912 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 39,185 shares during the period. Herc comprises 1.0% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Herc were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HRI. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 736,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $117,470,000 after purchasing an additional 56,191 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Herc by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 665,904 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,165,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Herc by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 637,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $101,589,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Herc by 6.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $63,011,000 after acquiring an additional 23,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Herc during the fourth quarter worth about $71,211,000. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Herc Trading Down 3.7 %

Herc stock opened at $147.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.70 and a 52 week high of $246.88.

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

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Herc Profile

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.