Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires New Position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,700 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,198,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in United Rentals by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 787,877 shares of the construction company's stock worth $637,968,000 after buying an additional 105,287 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Rentals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $235,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in United Rentals by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 541 shares of the construction company's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Rentals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $368,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in United Rentals by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,098 shares of the construction company's stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In other news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,478,697.44. This represents a 11.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 708 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of United Rentals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $780.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of United Rentals from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $485.00 to $780.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of United Rentals from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $705.00 to $666.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $535.00 to $571.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $753.15.

United Rentals Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE URI traded down $6.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $708.89. The company had a trading volume of 729,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,416. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. United Rentals, Inc. has a one year low of $525.91 and a one year high of $896.98. The company has a market cap of $46.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.70. The company's fifty day moving average is $643.68 and its 200-day moving average is $701.07.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 34.21% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. United Rentals's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.