Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 12,894 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 822,879 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 12,894 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.90% of Herc worth $109,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Herc by 94.6% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Herc by 31.1% in the second quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 1,881 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 87,330 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Herc by 300.5% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 749 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Herc by 15,137.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,857 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 6,812 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Herc in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Herc in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Herc from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herc news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total value of $925,713.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,415 shares in the company, valued at $5,632,047.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Aaron Birnbaum sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.71, for a total value of $1,467,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 38,232 shares in the company, valued at $5,609,016.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tamir Peres sold 5,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total transaction of $925,713.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 35,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,632,047.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Herc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRI opened at $156.29 on Tuesday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.17 and a 1 year high of $171.00. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $142.29 and its 200 day moving average is $146.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 2.07.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $813.05 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.97%.

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.