Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 31.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,612 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,190 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Herc were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Herc by 27.7% during the third 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. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Herc by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 5,147 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in Herc by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $988,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Herc by 3.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,086 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Herc by 5.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,758 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE HRI opened at $222.92 on Monday. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.08 and a 12-month high of $246.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.02.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on HRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Herc from $178.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.25.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In other Herc news, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total transaction of $810,260.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,424.42. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of Herc stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,600,408.32. This trade represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.