United Rentals (URI) Competitors

Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) are both construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend STRL or URI?

Sterling Infrastructure currently has a consensus target price of $355.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.83%. United Rentals has a consensus target price of $842.86, suggesting a potential downside of 11.15%. Given Sterling Infrastructure's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Sterling Infrastructure is more favorable than United Rentals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sterling Infrastructure	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
United Rentals	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Which has more volatility & risk, STRL or URI?

Sterling Infrastructure has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Rentals has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor STRL or URI?

In the previous week, United Rentals had 22 more articles in the media than Sterling Infrastructure. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for United Rentals and 14 mentions for Sterling Infrastructure. United Rentals' average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Sterling Infrastructure's score of 1.21 indicating that United Rentals is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sterling Infrastructure	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Rentals	28 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is STRL or URI more profitable?

United Rentals has a net margin of 16.11% compared to Sterling Infrastructure's net margin of 13.33%. United Rentals' return on equity of 32.01% beat Sterling Infrastructure's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sterling Infrastructure	13.33%	27.93%	11.18%
United Rentals	16.11%	32.01%	9.85%

Which has better valuation and earnings, STRL or URI?

United Rentals has higher revenue and earnings than Sterling Infrastructure. United Rentals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sterling Infrastructure, 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
Sterling Infrastructure	$2.12B	3.90	$257.46M	$9.20	29.49
United Rentals	$15.35B	3.98	$2.58B	$38.67	24.53

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of STRL or URI?

81.0% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of United Rentals shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Sterling Infrastructure shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of United Rentals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

United Rentals beats Sterling Infrastructure on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.