Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the September 15th total of 962,300 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 249,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total transaction of $925,713.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,632,047.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total transaction of $925,713.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,632,047.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 10,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.71, for a total transaction of $1,467,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,609,016.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRI. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herc during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Herc by 650.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Herc by 704.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 386 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Herc in the 3rd quarter worth about $159,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the 1st quarter valued at about $227,000. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRI traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $173.08. 299,216 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 226,465. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.07. Herc has a 52 week low of $100.17 and a 52 week high of $178.93.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by ($0.34). Herc had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 26.99%. The company had revenue of $848.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.05 million. Analysts predict that Herc will post 13.68 EPS for the current year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Herc from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Herc from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.75.

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.