United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $744.31.

URI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of United Rentals from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $974.00 to $921.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of United Rentals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $705.00 to $666.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group raised shares of United Rentals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $485.00 to $780.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on United Rentals from $850.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

United Rentals Price Performance

URI stock opened at $724.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $629.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $709.03. The stock has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.70. United Rentals has a fifty-two week low of $525.91 and a fifty-two week high of $896.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 34.21%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Rentals will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. United Rentals’s payout ratio is currently 18.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.86, for a total value of $499,748.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,957.06. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO William E. Grace sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $638.10, for a total transaction of $701,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,880 shares in the company, valued at $4,390,128. This represents a 13.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,908 shares of company stock valued at $1,890,567 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Rentals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimize Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 16.6% in the first quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 351 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of United Rentals by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,518 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. American Trust raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 1,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in United Rentals by 12.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,321,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in United Rentals during the first quarter worth approximately $314,000. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About United Rentals

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.