Short Interest in H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Increases By 8.7%

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,250,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the November 30th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 263,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services in the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in H&E Equipment Services in the 3rd quarter worth $84,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in H&E Equipment Services during the second quarter valued at about $109,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&E Equipment Services in the second quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Down 0.5 %

HEES opened at $48.96 on Thursday. H&E Equipment Services has a 1-year low of $40.92 and a 1-year high of $66.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.84.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $384.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.18 million. H&E Equipment Services had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 25.46%. H&E Equipment Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, H&E Equipment Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.25.

About H&E Equipment Services

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.