Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 6,874 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 637,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,874 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.24% of Herc worth $101,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Herc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,996,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Herc by 18.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 561,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $74,908,000 after purchasing an additional 87,330 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Herc by 8.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Herc by 145.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 91,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,624,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in Herc during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,556,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $1,065,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,600,408.32. This represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total transaction of $810,260.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,876,424.42. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRI opened at $186.03 on Thursday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.70 and a fifty-two week high of $246.88. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.02. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.31.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The firm had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. Herc’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.75%.

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.