Argent Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Argent Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Herc were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herc by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 736,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $117,470,000 after purchasing an additional 56,191 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Herc by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 665,904 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $106,165,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 637,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $101,589,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Herc by 6.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $63,011,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Herc in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,996,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE:HRI opened at $201.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 2.06. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.70 and a 12-month high of $246.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $207.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.01.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. Herc had a return on equity of 26.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 EPS. Research analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,600,408.32. The trade was a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.