United Rentals (URI) Competitors

Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Do analysts prefer LEN or URI?

Lennar currently has a consensus target price of $163.88, indicating a potential upside of 9.00%. United Rentals has a consensus target price of $589.21, indicating a potential downside of 14.49%. Given United Rentals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Lennar is more favorable than United Rentals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lennar	3 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47
United Rentals	3 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has higher earnings and valuation, LEN or URI?

Lennar has higher revenue and earnings than United Rentals. Lennar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Rentals, 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
Lennar	$34.23B	1.24	$3.94B	$14.27	10.65
United Rentals	$14.33B	3.22	$2.42B	$35.35	19.46

Does the media favor LEN or URI?

In the previous week, United Rentals had 10 more articles in the media than Lennar. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for United Rentals and 16 mentions for Lennar. Lennar's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat United Rentals' score of 0.79 indicating that United Rentals is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lennar	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Rentals	11 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, LEN or URI?

Lennar has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Rentals has a beta of 1.84, meaning that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

81.1% of Lennar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of United Rentals shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.4% of Lennar 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 hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LEN or URI?

Lennar received 123 more outperform votes than United Rentals when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.33% of users gave Lennar an outperform vote while only 64.52% of users gave United Rentals an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lennar	Outperform Votes 865 68.33%	Underperform Votes 401 31.67%
United Rentals	Outperform Votes 742 64.52%	Underperform Votes 408 35.48%

Is LEN or URI more profitable?

United Rentals has a net margin of 16.91% compared to United Rentals' net margin of 11.59%. Lennar's return on equity of 36.80% beat United Rentals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lennar	11.59%	15.90%	10.89%
United Rentals	16.91%	36.80%	11.03%

Is LEN or URI a better dividend stock?

Lennar pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. United Rentals pays an annual dividend of $6.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Lennar pays out 14.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Rentals pays out 18.4% 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. Lennar has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and United Rentals has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Lennar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Lennar and United Rentals tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.