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

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

H&E Equipment Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ HEES traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $51.22. The company had a trading volume of 37,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,297. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.18. H&E Equipment Services has a fifty-two week low of $38.06 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last posted 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 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that H&E Equipment Services will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. H&E Equipment Services’s dividend payout ratio is 23.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HEES shares. UBS Group cut 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 report on Wednesday, August 14th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of H&E Equipment Services from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp initiated 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Institutional Trading of H&E Equipment Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in H&E Equipment Services by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 88,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,687,000 after purchasing an additional 12,152 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 645.4% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 21,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 19,021 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,233,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 688.1% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 18,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 2,460.2% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 34,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after acquiring an additional 33,459 shares in the last quarter. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.