Carl Icahn might be beginning to circle his next target.
The activist investor has built a 30 million to 40 million share stake in Hertz Global Holdings, according to a report on Friday.
The stake, equal to roughly 6 percent to 9 percent of the shares of the Park Ridge, NJ, company, prompted Hertz Monday to adopt a poison pill, the report said.
Hertz shares did not move much on the report by CNBC — but they had jumped 10.5 percent on Dec. 31 on news of the poison pill.
Wall Street had suspected there were activists in the shares — they were up 16 percent in the last month — but Hertz, by adopting the pill, appears pretty well protected.
Hertz shares closed Friday at $28.50, down 0.6 percent.
Shareholders have until Feb. 14 to nominate their own directors for the annual meeting and launch a proxy fight. Still, with the company having a staggered board, only four of 11 seats are up for grabs, a source following the situation said.
The activists are likely pushing Hertz to spin off or sell its construction equipment rental business, sources said.
If Hertz were to sell or spin off its lesser-known construction rental arm and use proceeds to buy back shares, Hertz shares could rise by about one-third, to $37 a share, according to one trader who spoke to The Post.
Hertz, though, is not anxious to spin off the construction unit considering the future growth of the sector.
“I think if they had a choice they would like to retain it,” said Daniel Kaplan, the president of Hertz Equipment Rental from 1982 to 1997. He is now a consultant in the space.
Kaplan predicts a buyer might pay a 6.5-times-EBITDA multiple for the division, which is a bit better than analyst projections.
The American Rental Association projects construction rental sales overall will rise from $38.1 billion in 2013 to $49.3 billion in 2016. That is largely because residential home construction is expected to recover.
“I think Hertz feels they have a valuable asset that is becoming more valuable,” Kaplan said.
Hertz, as of a few weeks ago, had not hired a bank to advise it on strategic alternatives for the construction rental business, a source close to the situation said.
That has reportedly changed in the last several days.
Hertz, like rival Avis, is riding high in the markets. Hertz shares are up 80 percent in the last 12 months.
Avis is up 109 percent over the same period, to $40.53.
Part of the Hertz rise stems from its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty, completed last year.
That allowed both Hertz and Avis to raise prices, a source in the space said.
The call for Hertz to split its businesses is not new.
In fact, several Columbia University Business School students in April won Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Challenge prize of $100,000 by presenting Hertz as their best value stock.
Icahn did not return calls.