Herc (NYSE:HRI) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.40 EPS

Herc (NYSE:HRI) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40), Zacks reports. Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The business had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $919.84 million.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE HRI traded up $5.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.12. The stock had a trading volume of 352,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,636. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $198.87 and its 200 day moving average is $182.28. Herc has a twelve month low of $124.70 and a twelve month high of $246.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.04.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HRI shares. Barclays increased their target price on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.75.

About Herc

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.