Benzinga | Dec 21, 2021 08:12AM EST

Baird Downgrades Herc, United Rentals; Cuts Price Target

* Baird analyst Mircea Dobre downgraded Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE:HRI) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered the price target to $161 (an upside of 3.85%) from $222.

* Dobre notes the stock has outperformed the market since June 2020, benefitting from tight equipment supply/demand dynamics in 2021. However, this benefit will likely dissipate as supply chain normalization leads to improved manufacturing production and higher equipment supply in 2022, adds the analyst.

* Dobre considers labor will likely become a more significant challenge in 2022, limiting customers' growth ability.

* Dobre seeks to re-engage with the shares in the second half of 2022 in anticipation of a "2023 infrastructure-driven reacceleration."

* The analyst downgraded United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target to $317 (a downside of 1.53%) from $439.

* Price Action: HRI shares closed lower by 3.97% at $154.91 on Monday. URI shares are trading lower by 1.24% at $318 during the premarket session on Tuesday.