Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stock Position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 339.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,891 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in United Rentals were worth $1,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,855 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $10,464,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 445,214 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $313,627,000 after purchasing an additional 6,787 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Rentals during the 4th quarter valued at $649,000. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 4,114 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 7,813 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,504,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

URI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $720.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $535.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cfra Research raised shares of United Rentals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of United Rentals from $974.00 to $921.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of United Rentals from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $705.00 to $666.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $753.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.28, for a total value of $688,908.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,478,697.44. This trade represents a 11.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 708 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.86, for a total transaction of $499,748.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,921 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,957.06. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

United Rentals Trading Down 0.8%

URI stock traded down $5.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $697.29. The company had a trading volume of 266,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,059. United Rentals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $525.91 and a 52 week high of $896.98. The company has a market cap of $45.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $645.78 and a 200 day moving average of $699.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 34.21% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.15 EPS. United Rentals's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. United Rentals's payout ratio is 18.54%.

United Rentals Profile

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.