H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Shares of H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEES) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 1,250,613 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 175% from the previous session’s volume of 454,701 shares.The stock last traded at $92.91 and had previously closed at $93.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HEES shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $60.00) on shares of H&E Equipment Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.33.

H&E Equipment Services Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

H&E Equipment Services (NASDAQ:HEES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $384.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.50 million. H&E Equipment Services had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 25.46%. Research analysts expect that H&E Equipment Services, Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&E Equipment Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. H&E Equipment Services’s payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in H&E Equipment Services by 409.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 41,412 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&E Equipment Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 100,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,896,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in H&E Equipment Services by 6.3% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 64,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,145,000 after buying an additional 3,832 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in H&E Equipment Services during the 3rd quarter worth $343,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in H&E Equipment Services by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 94,335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 4,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

About H&E Equipment Services

H&E Equipment Services, Inc engages in the provision of equipment services, which focus on heavy construction and industrial equipment. It operates through the following segments: Equipment Rentals, New Equipment Sales, Used Equipment Sales, Parts Sales, and Services. The Equipment Rentals segment focuses on renting construction and industrial equipment.