United Rentals (URI) Competitors

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) and W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) are both large-cap trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

Do analysts rate URI or GWW?

United Rentals currently has a consensus price target of $766.23, suggesting a potential downside of 3.25%. W.W. Grainger has a consensus price target of $1,123.13, suggesting a potential upside of 7.08%. Given W.W. Grainger's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe W.W. Grainger is more favorable than United Rentals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Rentals	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
W.W. Grainger	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17

Which has more volatility and risk, URI or GWW?

United Rentals has a beta of 1.69, indicating that its stock price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, URI or GWW?

United Rentals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than W.W. Grainger. United Rentals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.W. Grainger, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Rentals	$15.58B	3.30	$2.58B	$38.62	20.51
W.W. Grainger	$17.17B	2.94	$1.91B	$38.95	26.93

Is URI or GWW more profitable?

United Rentals has a net margin of 16.38% compared to W.W. Grainger's net margin of 11.08%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 51.28% beat United Rentals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Rentals	16.38%	33.11%	10.11%
W.W. Grainger	11.08%	51.28%	22.00%

Is URI or GWW a better dividend stock?

United Rentals pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $9.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. United Rentals pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W.W. Grainger pays out 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. United Rentals has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and W.W. Grainger has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years. United Rentals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in URI or GWW?

96.3% of United Rentals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of United Rentals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor URI or GWW?

In the previous week, United Rentals had 4 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for United Rentals and 30 mentions for W.W. Grainger. United Rentals' average media sentiment score of 1.68 beat W.W. Grainger's score of 1.49 indicating that United Rentals is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
United Rentals	29 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
W.W. Grainger	26 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

United Rentals beats W.W. Grainger on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.