H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 747,800 shares, a growth of 41.3% from the May 31st total of 529,100 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 283,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

H&E Equipment Services Price Performance

Shares of HEES traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $42.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 247,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,466. H&E Equipment Services has a fifty-two week low of $38.06 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on H&E Equipment Services from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Raymond James assumed coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on H&E Equipment Services from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of H&E Equipment Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, H&E Equipment Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HEES. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the fourth quarter worth $11,827,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 353,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,501,000 after purchasing an additional 136,504 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the first quarter worth $7,046,000. Shelton Capital Management lifted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 150,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,486,000 after buying an additional 100,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,000,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

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.