What Happened?
Shares of equipment rental company Herc Holdings (NYSE: HRI) jumped 3.1% in the afternoon session after JPMorgan raised its price target on the company's stock to $140 from $127. The investment firm's analyst, Tami Zakaria, made the adjustment while reaffirming a 'Neutral' rating on the shares. This revision signaled a more positive valuation for the equipment rental company. The change was part of a broader review of companies in the machinery and waste services sector ahead of their third-quarter reports. The new, higher price target from the influential bank appeared to boost investor confidence.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $126.12, up 4.6% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Herc’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 39 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was about 23 hours ago when the stock gained 2.6% on the news that a softened tone from President Donald Trump on U.S.-China relations boosted investor sentiment. The positive shift followed a weekend post on Truth Social where Trump stated, "Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!" and expressed a desire to help rather than hurt the country's economy. This statement provided significant relief to markets that had ended the prior week with steep losses. In response, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.2%, the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3% higher, as investors' fears of escalating trade tensions subsided.
Herc is down 32.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $126.12 per share, it is trading 47.3% below its 52-week high of $239.28 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Herc’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,816.
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