United Rentals, Inc. $URI Shares Bought by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,088,209 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,977 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.71% of United Rentals worth $1,038,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in United Rentals by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 33,151 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $31,648,000 after buying an additional 19,081 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,937 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Rentals by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 232,394 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $221,857,000 after acquiring an additional 43,356 shares during the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,640,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 2.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 274,071 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $261,644,000 after purchasing an additional 5,510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on URI. KeyCorp set a $950.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of United Rentals from $995.00 to $1,071.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $965.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $970.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $972.00 price objective on United Rentals in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, United Rentals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $925.59.

Insider Activity

In other United Rentals news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $791.14, for a total transaction of $1,969,938.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,458 shares in the company, valued at $5,900,322.12. This represents a 25.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William E. Grace sold 1,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $790.89, for a total transaction of $1,184,753.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,434,996.08. This represents a 17.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of URI stock opened at $736.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $46.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $867.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $880.97. United Rentals, Inc. has a one year low of $525.91 and a one year high of $1,021.47.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $11.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.86 by ($0.77). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 30.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $11.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $1.97 per share. This is a boost from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

United Rentals announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 8.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Profile

United Rentals, Inc (NYSE: URI) is a leading equipment rental company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm provides rental solutions and related services to construction, industrial, commercial, and municipal customers. Its business model centers on providing access to a broad fleet of equipment on a short-term or long-term basis, enabling customers to avoid the capital expenditure of ownership and to scale equipment use to match project needs.

The company’s product and service offerings span general construction equipment and a range of specialty categories, including aerial work platforms, earthmoving and excavation machines, material handling equipment, pumps, power and HVAC systems, trench and shoring solutions, and tools.