Short Interest in H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Declines By 7.4%

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 944,100 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the September 15th total of 1,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Up 0.1 %

HEES stock opened at $51.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.84. H&E Equipment Services has a 1 year low of $38.06 and a 1 year high of $66.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $376.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.05 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 10.53%. H&E Equipment Services’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were paid a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 28th. H&E Equipment Services’s payout ratio is 23.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HEES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in H&E Equipment Services during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in H&E Equipment Services by 42.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $62,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $109,000. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.