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

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

Institutional Trading of H&E Equipment Services

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HEES. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 1st quarter valued at $170,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter worth $205,000. Busey Bank acquired a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the first quarter valued at about $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 3.2 %

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

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

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 23.55%.

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.