Why Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. Stock Plummeted Today

What happened

Shares of rental car company Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) fell as much as 11.7% on Thursday after analysts at Morgan Stanley cut its price target for the stock from $15 to $12. Shares closed the trading day down about 11.4%.

So what

Hertz's decline on Thursday continues a bearish run for the stock recently, driven largely by the company's worse-than-expected loss in its first quarter as CEO Kathryn Marinello aims to execute on a turnaround plan.

Image source: Hertz.

Morgan Stanley cited "unprecedented" fleet costs as one of the reasons for the lowered price target. Marinello acknowledged in the company's first-quarter earnings release that "headwinds related to used car residual values" were a problem for the company.

First-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share in Hertz's first quarter was $1.35 billion and a loss of $1.61, down from revenue of $1.41 billion and a loss of $0.79 in the same period last year, respectively.

Now what

Marinello is only in the early stages of the company's turnaround plans. She warned investors in the first-quarter earnings release that Hertz performance "doesn't yet reflect our investments and may continue to be uneven, we are seeing signs of progress."

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Daniel Sparks has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.