H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) Short Interest Update

H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the August 31st total of 952,300 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 299,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of H&E Equipment Services stock opened at $49.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.85. H&E Equipment Services has a 52-week low of $38.06 and a 52-week high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.04.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $376.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $382.05 million. H&E Equipment Services had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.52 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&E Equipment Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HEES. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 42.5% during the second 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 period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 46,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,047,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in H&E Equipment Services by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 5.3% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on HEES. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James assumed coverage on H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

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.