DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Reduces Stock Position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,049 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,037 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.05% of United Rentals worth $19,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at about $586,415,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in United Rentals by 104,089.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,341,964 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $476,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340,676 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in United Rentals by 58,829.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,043,051 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $598,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,281 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in United Rentals by 49.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 672,534 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $238,890,000 after purchasing an additional 221,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Rentals by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,179,328 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,905,379,000 after purchasing an additional 186,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In other news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total transaction of $508,105.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,485.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of URI traded down $3.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $702.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 370,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,868. United Rentals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $325.15 and a 1-year high of $732.37. The stock has a market cap of $47.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $676.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $556.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The construction company reported $11.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.85 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.63 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 16.91%. The business's revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 43.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from United Rentals's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. United Rentals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

URI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on United Rentals from $510.00 to $718.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on United Rentals from $575.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BNP Paribas reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals in a report on Friday, January 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on United Rentals from $490.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on United Rentals from $325.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $572.20.

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.