Alight Capital Management LP Sells 5,000 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. $URI

Alight Capital Management LP cut its stake in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. United Rentals comprises about 2.1% of Alight Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Alight Capital Management LP’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $9,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Optas LLC raised its stake in shares of United Rentals by 0.9% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in United Rentals by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,720,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management raised its stake in United Rentals by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 175 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Rentals by 2.9% in the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 387 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 2.7% in the third quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 450 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on URI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $995.00 to $1,071.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of United Rentals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,025.00 target price for the company in a report on Sunday, January 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on United Rentals from $1,123.00 to $1,041.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on United Rentals from $1,150.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $950.00 price objective on United Rentals in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $925.59.

United Rentals Stock Performance

URI 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $867.74 and a 200 day moving average of $880.97. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $525.91 and a fifty-two week high of $1,021.47.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $11.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.86 by ($0.77). United Rentals had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 15.49%.The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $11.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a $1.97 dividend. This is an increase from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

United Rentals announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Rentals news, EVP William E. Grace sold 1,498 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $790.89, for a total value of $1,184,753.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,434,996.08. The trade was a 17.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 2,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $791.14, for a total value 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 trade represents a 25.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Company 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.