Bailard Inc. Buys New Shares in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HRI. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,211,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,982,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the third quarter valued at about $35,996,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 578.8% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 231,130 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,760,000 after purchasing an additional 197,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 117.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 116,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,739,000 after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRI opened at $135.35 on Tuesday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.70 and a fifty-two week high of $246.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $189.76 and its 200 day moving average is $185.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.04.

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

Herc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.75.

Herc Company 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.