Herc (NYSE:HRI) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.67 EPS

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Jul 30th, 2026

Herc (NYSE:HRI – Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.67, FiscalAI reports. Herc had a net margin of 1.01% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. Herc’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Herc’s conference call:

Pro forma equipment rental revenue returned to growth, rising 2% year over year in Q2 despite average fleet OEC declining approximately 3%; dollar utilization improved by more than 200 basis points.
Management raised full-year guidance, targeting approximately $4.425 billion of equipment rental revenue and $2.09 billion of adjusted EBITDA at the midpoints, supported by stronger national-account and mega-project demand.
The company increased its 2026 net fleet CapEx outlook to roughly $900 million, with about 70% of purchases expected in Q2 and Q3 and the majority weighted toward specialty equipment tied to identified demand.
Fuel and transportation inflation rose approximately 35% from Q1 and reduced Q2 adjusted EBITDA margin by about 150 basis points; management expects roughly one percentage point of full-year margin pressure and has lowered free-cash-flow guidance to $250 million-$350 million.
Herc raised its long-term target share of the U.S. mega-project rental opportunity to 15%-20%, but said reaching the upper end will take several years as projects typically generate revenue over three to five years or longer.

Herc Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Herc stock traded up $1.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $144.19. 174,665 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 596,018. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $143.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.83. Herc has a 1-year low of $88.45 and a 1-year high of $188.35.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,037.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Herc by 11.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,123,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $481,040,000 after purchasing an additional 413,719 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 993,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,480,000 after buying an additional 28,024 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 825,511 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,712,000 after buying an additional 235,694 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Herc by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 784,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $103,374,000 after buying an additional 124,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Herc by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 770,291 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $114,296,000 after buying an additional 18,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on HRI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Herc from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their price target on Herc from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Herc from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Herc from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Herc from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herc presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.00.

View Our Latest Report on Herc

Herc Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.