HRI vs KEX vs URI Stock Comparison

Herc Holdings, Kirby and United Rentals Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HRI Herc Holdings Inc
$156.00 +15.2% 1M +17.0% 1Y
Market cap
$5.55B
P/E
86.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.92B
Div. yield
–
Equipment Rental Industrials
1 win
KEX Kirby Corp
$137.21 +6.4% 1M +54.7% 1Y
Market cap
$7.80B
P/E
22.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
6 wins
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,162.88 +11.1% 1M +29.2% 1Y
Market cap
$72.97B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
–
Equipment Rental Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Kirby leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Kirby 6, United Rentals 4, Herc Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHRIKEXURILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.55B $7.80B $72.97B URI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 86.7x 22.0x 25.5x KEX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 20.0x 21.0x KEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +19.4% +6.6% +9.4% HRI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 10.2% 16.3% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 8.3% 14.0% URI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.3x 2.3x KEX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.0% +54.7% +29.2% KEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.8%/yr +20.4%/yr +26.0%/yr URI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 60.6% 29.0% 42.3% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 64/100 56/100 KEX

Percentile Scorecard

HRIKEXURI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHRIKEXURI
Valuation 58 #20 of 46 41 #81 of 136 20 #37 of 46
Growth 84 #7 of 39 79 #26 of 121 92 #4 of 39
Profitability 53 #19 of 39 54 #53 of 115 95 #3 of 39
Financial Health 7 #44 of 47 66 #50 of 143 20 #38 of 47
Shareholder Returns 55 #15 of 32 80 #17 of 82 52 #16 of 32
Overall 51 64 56
  • HRI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • KEX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • URI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHRIKEXURISPY
1 month +15.2%+6.4%+11.1% -0.2%
3 months +5.0%-5.6%+6.6% +3.9%
6 months +16.5%-9.1%+20.8% +8.2%
Year to date +5.1%+24.5%+43.7% +12.9%
1 year +17.0%+54.7%+29.2% +12.3%
3 years +47.9%+83.7%+191.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +13.9%+22.5%+42.9% +23.3%
5 years -13.4%+153.0%+216.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year -2.8%+20.4%+26.0% +10.9%
10 years +426.5%+131.2%+1,424.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +18.1%+8.7%+31.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHRIKEXURISPY
Volatility, 1Y 60.6%29.0%42.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.0%27.1%39.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.940.551.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.281.890.69 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.0%-38.8%-40.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.9%-10.1%-0.2% -1.2%
52-week high $181.12$152.59$1,165.29 $779.14
52-week low $91.04$88.64$710.47 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHRIKEXURI
P/E now vs peer median 86.7xmedian 25.3x 20.6xmedian 16.3x 25.3xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.0x 2.1xmedian 1.0x 4.1xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.4x 10.8xmedian 8.7x 13.7xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -33.2xmedian 21.9x 15.2xmedian 11.4x 80.8xmedian 21.9x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.6x 2.1xmedian 1.2x 7.4xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 2.38 0.65median 0.82 2.66median 2.38

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHRIKEXURI
Revenue $4.92B $3.49B $17.50B
Gross profit – $1.16B $6.84B
Operating income – $488.92M $4.47B
Net income $123.00M $355.89M $2.86B
Free cash flow – $475.58M $892.00M
EPS (diluted) – $6.62 $45.89
Cash & equivalents $66.00M $38.96M $153.00M
Total debt – $1.04B $14.67B
Shares (diluted) 33.50M 53.70M 62.26M
Enterprise value $5.55B $7.58B $72.09B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHRIKEXURI
P/E 86.7x 20.6x 25.3x
P/FCF -33.2x 15.2x 80.8x
P/Operating cash flow 4.1x 10.2x 11.6x
P/S 1.1x 2.1x 4.1x
P/B 2.6x 2.1x 7.4x
P/Tangible book 12.3x 2.1x 7.8x
EV/EBITDA – 10.8x 13.7x
EV/EBIT – 16.9x 19.4x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 2.4x 5.0x
EV/FCF – 17.3x 97.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 4.1x 11.6x 14.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.65 2.66

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHRIKEXURI
Revenue growth (1Y) 19.4% 6.6% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.9% 5.1% 8.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 5.0% 10.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 11.8% 6.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 18.0% 11.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 22.6% 5.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 278.3% 17.2% 12.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -29.7% 26.8% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 23.2% 16.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 31.6% 9.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.0% 21.4% 24.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 18.5% 10.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 82.1% 98.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 43.3% 83.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHRIKEXURI
Gross margin – 33.2% 39.1%
EBITDA margin – 21.8% 36.1%
Operating margin – 14.0% 25.5%
Pretax margin – 13.5% 21.8%
Net margin – 10.2% 16.3%
FCF margin – 13.6% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 25.8% 20.3% 35.4%
Return on equity 6.4% 10.4% 30.2%
Return on assets 0.9% 5.8% 8.9%
Return on invested capital – 8.3% 14.0%
Return on capital employed – 9.0% 16.5%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 10.3x 2.0x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.5% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHRIKEXURI
Debt / assets – 16.7% 44.7%
Debt / equity – 0.3x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.3x 2.3x
Debt / FCF – 2.2x 16.4x
Liabilities / assets 85.9% 44.6% 70.4%
Equity / assets 14.1% 55.4% 29.6%
Interest coverage – 11.0x –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio – 1.0x 0.6x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score – 3.27 3.57

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHRIKEXURI
Dividend yield 1.8% – 0.7%
Net buyback yield – 4.5% 2.5%
Shareholder yield 1.8% 4.5% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHRIKEXURI
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2026 20.0xFY2026 21.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.93FY2026 $6.86FY2026 $55.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -8.9%FY2026 +8.4%FY2026 +31.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +61.8% +29.0% +6.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.76BFY2026 $3.49BFY2026 $18.69BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.6%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026 +16.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.0% +4.7% +3.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHRIKEXURI
Held by institutions 100.0% 99.6% 95.9%
Institutions holding 334 464 1,587
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.0% -0.1% +4.7%
Institutions buying 205 252 804
Institutions selling 86 145 537
Buyers to sellers 2.38 1.74 1.50

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HRIKEXURI
HRI 1.00 0.24 0.68
KEX 0.24 1.00 0.29
URI 0.68 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HRI, KEX and URI?

United Rentals (URI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Herc Holdings (HRI) $5.55B, Kirby (KEX) $7.80B, United Rentals (URI) $72.97B.

Which stock is cheaper, HRI, KEX and URI?

Kirby (KEX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Herc Holdings (HRI) 86.7x, Kirby (KEX) 22.0x, United Rentals (URI) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kirby (KEX) is cheapest (Herc Holdings (HRI) 22.5x, Kirby (KEX) 20.0x, United Rentals (URI) 21.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Herc Holdings (HRI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Herc Holdings (HRI) +19.4%, Kirby (KEX) +6.6%, United Rentals (URI) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (Kirby (KEX) 10.2%, United Rentals (URI) 16.3%). On return on invested capital, United Rentals (URI) leads (Kirby (KEX) 8.3%, United Rentals (URI) 14.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kirby (KEX) returned the most: Herc Holdings (HRI) +17.0%, Kirby (KEX) +54.7%, United Rentals (URI) +29.2%. Over five years, United Rentals (URI) compounded fastest (Herc Holdings (HRI) -2.8%/yr, Kirby (KEX) +20.4%/yr, United Rentals (URI) +26.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (Herc Holdings (HRI) 60.6%, Kirby (KEX) 29.0%, United Rentals (URI) 42.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HRI, KEX and URI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Kirby (KEX) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.