United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Shares Acquired by abrdn plc

abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,578 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 11,840 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $18,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in URI. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 58,829.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,043,051 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $598,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,281 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of United Rentals by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 362,151 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $161,001,000 after purchasing an additional 169,586 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of United Rentals by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 933,428 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $414,974,000 after buying an additional 149,838 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals in the third quarter valued at $40,634,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in United Rentals by 12.7% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 638,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $284,061,000 after buying an additional 72,066 shares in the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $322.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $793.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $485.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a report on Friday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on United Rentals in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on United Rentals from $575.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $589.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total value of $508,105.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,485.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Stock Performance

URI stock opened at $655.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $679.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $576.07. United Rentals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $325.15 and a 52 week high of $732.37.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $9.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.39 by $0.76. United Rentals had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 36.80%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.95 EPS. United Rentals’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 43.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.44%.

United Rentals declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.