Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires New Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 728 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Herc by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,667,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $198,303,000 after purchasing an additional 457,697 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 585,029 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $69,583,000 after acquiring an additional 107,708 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Herc by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 453,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,945,000 after acquiring an additional 98,648 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 653.3% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 56,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 49,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Herc by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 350,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,677,000 after buying an additional 45,427 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Herc from $117.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $155.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Herc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tamir Peres sold 3,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.10, for a total transaction of $564,009.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,560,647.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock opened at $153.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.27. Herc Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $93.97 and a one year high of $171.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $158.98 and its 200 day moving average is $141.30.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.29 by ($0.05). Herc had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 28.68%. The business had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $858.06 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 14.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This is a boost from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is 21.97%.

Herc Company 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.