Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 15,455 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,926,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Herc as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Herc by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,011,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Herc by 191.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after buying an additional 18,289 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Herc by 8.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 736,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $117,470,000 after acquiring an additional 56,191 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Herc in the third quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in Herc by 461.2% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 23,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,814,000 after buying an additional 19,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Herc in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.20.

Herc Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Herc stock opened at $138.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.62. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.60 and a 12-month high of $246.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.14.

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

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Herc’s payout ratio is presently 37.79%.

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.