Franklin Resources Inc. Has $19.74 Million Stock Holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,883 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.41% of Herc worth $19,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HRI. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Herc by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Herc by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC grew its position in Herc by 3.8% during the third quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Herc by 4.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,019 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herc by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on HRI shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.75.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In other news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total transaction of $1,065,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares in the company, valued at $4,600,408.32. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,424.42. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Herc Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:HRI opened at $183.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $210.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 2.02. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.70 and a 1-year high of $246.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.13). Herc had a return on equity of 26.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 EPS. Herc’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Herc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

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.