United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of United Rentals (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. OTR Global upgraded United Rentals from a mixed rating to a positive rating in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on United Rentals in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. They set an outperform rating and a $544.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on United Rentals from $460.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on United Rentals from $375.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on United Rentals from $380.00 to $436.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $440.46.

United Rentals Stock Down 6.8 %

URI opened at $370.09 on Thursday. United Rentals has a 12 month low of $230.54 and a 12 month high of $481.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $431.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $359.57.

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

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 7th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.97%.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In other news, COO Dale A. Asplund sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.26, for a total value of $5,842,393.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,388,843.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 value of $224,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,520. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Dale A. Asplund sold 13,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.26, for a total value of $5,842,393.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,388,843.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,672 shares of company stock valued at $13,871,422 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Rentals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 10.4% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the third quarter worth $228,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 9.9% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 137,504 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,401,000 after acquiring an additional 12,393 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 114.3% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphastar Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 3.1% during the third quarter. Alphastar Capital Management LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.