Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Invests $36 Million in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 225,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,996,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 0.79% of Herc at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herc in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Herc by 650.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Herc by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Herc by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 322 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 369.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 343 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Herc from $178.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Herc in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.25.

Herc Price Performance

NYSE HRI opened at $217.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $179.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.20. Herc Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.08 and a fifty-two week 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.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Herc

In related news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total transaction of $810,260.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $1,065,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,600,408.32. This represents a 18.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,880 shares of company stock worth $3,342,960. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Herc 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.