United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

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United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $925.5882.

URI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of United Rentals in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $965.00 price target on United Rentals in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on United Rentals from $1,123.00 to $1,041.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on United Rentals from $1,090.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $972.00 price target on United Rentals in a report on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of United Rentals by 22.8% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,402,524 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,247,762,000 after buying an additional 631,484 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of United Rentals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,708,877 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,192,357,000 after buying an additional 30,263 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Rentals by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,343,981 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,087,711,000 after buying an additional 28,895 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Rentals in the fourth quarter worth about $978,017,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of United Rentals by 5.6% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,088,209 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,038,870,000 after buying an additional 57,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.26% of the company's stock.

United Rentals Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:URI opened at $767.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.68. 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 has a 1 year low of $557.05 and a 1 year high of $1,021.47. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $800.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $852.88.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 30.35%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $11.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that United Rentals will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a $1.97 dividend. This is a positive change from United Rentals's previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. United Rentals's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

About United Rentals

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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