StockNews.com Begins Coverage on United Rentals (NYSE:URI)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of United Rentals (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the construction company’s stock.

URI has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on United Rentals from $341.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on United Rentals to $415.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on United Rentals from $404.00 to $441.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on United Rentals from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on United Rentals from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $440.46.

United Rentals Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE:URI opened at $370.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. United Rentals has a 52-week low of $230.54 and a 52-week high of $481.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $431.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.57. The company has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.85.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The construction company reported $9.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.12 by ($0.38). United Rentals had a net margin of 18.08% and a return on equity of 36.12%. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Rentals will post 41.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th were given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 7th. United Rentals’s payout ratio is 4.97%.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In other news, EVP Craig Adam Pintoff sold 4,761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.56, for a total value of $2,068,940.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,927,755.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Craig Adam Pintoff sold 4,761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.56, for a total value of $2,068,940.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,927,755.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.00, for a total value of $224,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,520. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,672 shares of company stock valued at $13,871,422 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of URI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at about $586,415,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Rentals by 104,089.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,341,964 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $476,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340,676 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new position in United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at about $137,604,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in United Rentals by 146.5% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 615,729 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $166,322,000 after purchasing an additional 365,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in United Rentals by 27.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,168,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $317,729,000 after purchasing an additional 248,072 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

About United Rentals

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United Rentals, Inc engages in the equipment rental business. It operates through the General Rentals and Specialty segments. The General Rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial and industrial equipment, general tools and light equipment, and related services and activities. The Specialty segment focuses on the rental of specialty construction products such as trench safety equipment, power and HVAC equipment, fluid solutions equipment, mobile storage equipment and modular office space.