Raymond James Initiates Coverage on H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES)

Equities researchers at Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HEES. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&E Equipment Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

H&E Equipment Services Price Performance

HEES stock opened at $44.17 on Friday. H&E Equipment Services has a one year low of $38.06 and a one year high of $66.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.93.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $371.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.52 million. H&E Equipment Services had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 34.33%. H&E Equipment Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that H&E Equipment Services will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter worth about $217,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 2,460.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 34,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 33,459 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter worth about $7,046,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 6.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 7.7% in the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 100,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,348,000 after purchasing an additional 7,181 shares during the last quarter. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

H&E Equipment Services Company Profile

H&E Equipment Services, Inc operates as an integrated equipment services company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Equipment Rentals, Sales of Rental Equipment, Sales of New Equipment, Parts Sales, and Repair and Maintenance Services. The Equipment Rentals segment provides construction and industrial equipment for rent on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.