Should You Buy Herc Holdings Inc (HRI) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/29
Herc Holdings (HRI) is not a good buy right now for a beginner long-term investor who is impatient. While Wall Street is broadly bullish with higher targets ($170–$200) and options positioning leans constructive, the stock’s near-term technicals are weakening (bearish MACD expansion) and the latest quarter shows strong revenue growth but a sharp profitability/margin collapse. Net: attractive long-term narrative, but the current setup is not clean enough to call a buy today.
Technical Analysis
Price/levels: Last close $153.6, below the pivot ($160.648) and sitting just above key support S1 ($152.381). A break below S1 increases downside risk toward S2 ($147.274). Trend/momentum: Moving averages are still bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), suggesting the bigger-picture trend hasn’t fully broken, but momentum has turned down: MACD histogram is negative (-1.267) and negatively expanding (bearish). RSI(6) at ~42 is neutral-to-weak (not oversold), implying the stock can still drift lower without a technical “snapback” signal.
Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals
- [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today.
- [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock today.
Near-term pattern read: Model-based pattern stats imply modest weakness over the next month (-2.48% expected bias), which aligns with the bearish MACD while price is below the pivot.
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Recent trend: Ratings skew bullish and price targets have been raised/initiated higher from late 2025 into Jan 2026. Barclays raised PT to $175 (Overweight), Wells Fargo raised PT to $189 (Overweight), Citi raised PT to $170 (Buy), KeyBanc upgraded to Overweight with a $200 PT, and Wells Fargo initiated at Overweight ($170). Wall Street pros: strong cycle/mega-project demand, utilization improvement (including acquired assets), and potential tailwind from lower rates. Wall Street cons: implied in the cautious tone about conservative 2026 outlooks and the market’s need for proof that margins/earnings can recover after the Q3 profitability drop.
Influential/political trading: No recent congress trading data available; insiders and hedge funds show neutral recent activity.
Wall Street analysts forecast HRI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HRI is 175 USD with a low forecast of 150 USD and a high forecast of 200 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
Wall Street analysts forecast HRI stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HRI is 175 USD with a low forecast of 150 USD and a high forecast of 200 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
Current: 147.020
Current: 147.020
