National Pension Service Cuts Stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

National Pension Service lowered its holdings in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,452 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,629 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $31,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in United Rentals by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,179,328 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,905,379,000 after buying an additional 186,931 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in United Rentals by 0.8% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,631,282 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,521,122,000 after buying an additional 41,952 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in United Rentals by 27.0% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,168,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $317,729,000 after buying an additional 248,072 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in United Rentals by 2.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,162,951 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $314,151,000 after buying an additional 32,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in United Rentals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 909,639 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $245,712,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Rentals news, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.00, for a total transaction of $224,208.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $965,520. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other United Rentals news, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.00, for a total transaction of $224,208.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $965,520. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Craig Adam Pintoff sold 4,761 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.56, for a total value of $2,068,940.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,942 shares in the company, valued at $6,927,755.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,672 shares of company stock worth $13,871,422 in the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus increased their price target on United Rentals from $360.00 to $475.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on United Rentals in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on United Rentals from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on United Rentals from $425.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on United Rentals in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $440.46.

United Rentals Price Performance

Shares of URI stock opened at $397.16 on Friday. United Rentals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.54 and a 52-week high of $481.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $432.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $358.63.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The construction company reported $9.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.12 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 36.12% and a net margin of 18.08%. United Rentals’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 41.69 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 7th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. United Rentals’s payout ratio is currently 4.97%.

United Rentals Company Profile

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United Rentals, Inc engages in the equipment rental business. It operates through the General Rentals and Specialty segments. The General Rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial and industrial equipment, general tools and light equipment, and related services and activities. The Specialty segment focuses on the rental of specialty construction products such as trench safety equipment, power and HVAC equipment, fluid solutions equipment, mobile storage equipment and modular office space.