Herc (NYSE:HRI) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Herc (NYSE:HRI) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Herc from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Herc from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Herc from $200.00 to $198.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.71.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock opened at $100.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -556.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 1.81. Herc has a 52 week low of $88.45 and a 52 week high of $188.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $125.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The transportation company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Herc had a net margin of 0.02% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herc

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Herc by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Herc by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 438 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC grew its position in Herc by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Herc by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Herc by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

About Herc

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE: HRI) operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company’s fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.