Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Position in Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) by 49.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,301 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 27,659 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Herc were worth $5,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Herc by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 736,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $117,470,000 after buying an additional 56,191 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Herc by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 665,904 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $106,165,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 637,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $101,589,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Herc by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,011,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Herc in the 4th quarter worth about $71,211,000. 93.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on HRI shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Herc in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Herc from $234.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.20.

Herc Stock Performance

Shares of HRI stock opened at $142.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.11. Herc Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.60 and a 52 week high of $246.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.14.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The transportation company reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $934.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $919.84 million. Herc had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 26.48%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Herc Holdings Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Herc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.79%.

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.