Comparing United Rentals (NYSE:URI) & Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM)

Latham Group (NASDAQ:SWIM) and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) are both construction companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Latham Group and United Rentals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Latham Group	2	1	2	1	2.33
United Rentals	1	3	12	2	2.83

Latham Group presently has a consensus price target of $7.33, suggesting a potential upside of 27.76%. United Rentals has a consensus price target of $925.59, suggesting a potential upside of 24.01%. Given Latham Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Latham Group is more favorable than United Rentals.

Risk & Volatility

Latham Group has a beta of 1.7, meaning that its share price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Rentals has a beta of 1.66, meaning that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Latham Group and United Rentals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Latham Group	$545.91 million	1.23	$11.12 million	$0.09	63.78
United Rentals	$16.10 billion	2.92	$2.49 billion	$38.68	19.30

United Rentals has higher revenue and earnings than Latham Group. United Rentals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Latham Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Latham Group and United Rentals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Latham Group	2.04%	2.79%	1.34%
United Rentals	15.49%	30.35%	9.27%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.0% of Latham Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of United Rentals shares are held by institutional investors. 6.9% of Latham Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of United Rentals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

United Rentals beats Latham Group on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Latham Group

Latham Group, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets in-ground residential swimming pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It offers a portfolio of pools and related products, including in-ground swimming pools that include fiber glass and packaged pools; and pool covers and liners under the Latham, Narellan, CoverStar, Radiant, and GLI brand names. The company was formerly known as Latham Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Latham Group, Inc. in March 2021. Latham Group, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Latham, New York.

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. The specialty segment rents specialty construction products, including trench safety equipment consists of trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment; fluid solutions equipment for fluid containment, transfer, and treatment; and mobile storage equipment and modular office space. This segment serves construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, and municipalities and industrial companies. It also sells aerial lifts, reach forklifts, telehandlers, compressors, and generators; construction consumables, tools, small equipment, and safety supplies; and parts for equipment that is owned by its customers, as well as provides repair and maintenance services. The company sells used equipment through its sales force, brokers, website, at auctions, and directly to manufacturers. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. United Rentals, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.