United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $584.07.

Several research firms recently weighed in on URI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on United Rentals from $494.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Truist Financial began coverage on United Rentals in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $793.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on United Rentals from $575.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on United Rentals from $325.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on United Rentals from $510.00 to $718.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In other news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total value of $508,105.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,485.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in URI. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in United Rentals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in United Rentals in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp increased its position in United Rentals by 1,900.0% in the 3rd quarter. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp now owns 100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Rentals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in United Rentals by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 48 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Rentals Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of URI stock opened at $674.81 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $680.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.11. The company has a market cap of $45.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.84. United Rentals has a fifty-two week low of $325.15 and a fifty-two week high of $732.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.81.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The construction company reported $11.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.85 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 16.91%. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.74 EPS. Equities analysts predict that United Rentals will post 43.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This is a positive change from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.44%.

United Rentals Company Profile

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.