United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Price Target Raised to $750.00

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Free Report) had its price target upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $720.00 to $750.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the construction company's stock.

URI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $575.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $322.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $718.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $600.57.

United Rentals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:URI traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $690.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 581,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,042. United Rentals has a 52-week low of $325.15 and a 52-week high of $732.37. The company has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $680.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $576.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.81.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $9.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.35 by $0.80. United Rentals had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 36.85%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Rentals will post 43.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. United Rentals's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total value of $508,105.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,145,485.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Rentals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of URI. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,399,808 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,669,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,799,997 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at $977,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,246,092 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $714,578,000 after acquiring an additional 56,948 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 58,829.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,043,051 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $598,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 933,428 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $414,974,000 after acquiring an additional 149,838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.26% of the company's stock.

United Rentals Company 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.