JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 11,945 Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,945 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.37% of Herc worth $16,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HRI. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Herc by 0.8% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC grew its stake in Herc by 3.8% in the third quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Herc by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,019 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Herc by 1.9% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $988,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,600,408.32. This represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were 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 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 Trading Down 1.9 %

HRI opened at $178.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $209.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.70 and a 1-year high of $246.88.

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

Herc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.