D.A. Davidson & CO. Makes New Investment in Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock $SUNB

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson acquired a new 25,356-share stake in Sunbelt Rentals during the third quarter, valued at approximately $1.86 million. Several other investors also initiated or increased positions.
• Analyst views were mixed: nine analysts rate the stock a Buy, four a Hold and two a Sell, while MarketBeat reports a consensus rating of Hold and an $85.72 price target. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its target to $93.
• Sunbelt Rentals reported quarterly EPS of $1.18, beating the $0.99 estimate, and revenue rose 11.2% year over year to $3.12 billion. Its quarterly dividend fell to $0.30 per share from $0.75.

D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock (NYSE:SUNB - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 25,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,856,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. North Dakota State Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 12,563 shares of the company's stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock during the third quarter worth about $11,253,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock in the third quarter valued at approximately $667,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock in the third quarter valued at approximately $438,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock during the third quarter valued at approximately $384,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SUNB. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.72.

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock Price Performance

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock stock opened at $83.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.68. Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock has a 1 year low of $61.03 and a 1 year high of $86.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock (NYSE:SUNB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter. Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a drop from Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 18th. Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

About Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. Common Stock

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc is an equipment rental company that provides construction, industrial, commercial and specialty equipment to businesses, government agencies and consumers. Its rental fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling machinery, general tools, power-generation and climate-control equipment, pumps, trench-safety products, traffic and safety equipment, and temporary structures.

The company supports a range of applications, including construction and infrastructure projects, industrial maintenance, facility management, disaster response, utilities, entertainment and events.

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