First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stake in United Rentals, Inc. $URI

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in United Rentals (NYSE: URI) by 15.9% in Q3, buying 6,552 shares to hold 47,647 shares worth about $45.5 million.
• Large institutions are heavily invested—Norges Bank opened a ~$776.1M position and JPMorgan raised its holdings to 1,874,127 shares (~$1.41B)—leaving 96.26% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• United Rentals missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $11.09 vs. $11.86 est.), but its board approved a $5.0 billion share buyback (~8.7% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $1.97 (annualized $7.88, ~1.0% yield).

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,647 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 6,552 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of United Rentals worth $45,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of URI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals in the second quarter worth $776,102,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in United Rentals by 71.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,874,127 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,411,968,000 after purchasing an additional 780,322 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in United Rentals by 74.5% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 715,250 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $542,526,000 after purchasing an additional 305,378 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in United Rentals by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 484,450 shares of the construction company's stock worth $462,485,000 after purchasing an additional 193,416 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in United Rentals by 34,208.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 189,038 shares of the construction company's stock worth $142,421,000 after purchasing an additional 188,487 shares during the period. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on URI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on United Rentals from $995.00 to $1,071.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of United Rentals in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group upgraded United Rentals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $1,025.00 price target for the company in a research report on Sunday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on United Rentals from $1,150.00 to $970.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $965.00 price objective on United Rentals in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $925.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $791.14, for a total value of $1,969,938.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,900,322.12. This trade represents a 25.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP William E. Grace sold 1,498 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $790.89, for a total transaction of $1,184,753.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,872 shares in the company, valued at $5,434,996.08. The trade was a 17.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Stock Performance

NYSE URI opened at $780.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $49.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.66. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $871.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $883.86. United Rentals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $525.91 and a 1-year high of $1,021.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $11.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $11.86 by ($0.77). United Rentals had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 15.49%.The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $11.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $1.97 per share. This is a boost from United Rentals's previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. United Rentals's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

United Rentals declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

United Rentals 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.

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