United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Rentals (NYSE:URI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on URI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,170.00 target price (down from $1,235.00) on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded United Rentals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,320.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,323.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. UBS Group set a $1,170.00 price objective on United Rentals in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $1,195.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,239.19.

United Rentals Stock Performance

URI stock opened at $1,057.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,060.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $998.80. United Rentals has a 52 week low of $701.59 and a 52 week high of $1,179.18.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $12.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.53 by $1.23. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.67% and a return on equity of 31.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.47 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that United Rentals will post 48.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $1.97 dividend. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP William Grace sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,133.15, for a total value of $1,699,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,869,155.30. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Rentals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals in the second quarter worth $5,816,326,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in United Rentals in the 2nd quarter valued at $944,196,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in United Rentals in the 2nd quarter valued at $716,129,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in United Rentals in the 2nd quarter worth $412,860,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in United Rentals in the 2nd quarter worth $411,896,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

United Rentals Company Profile

United Rentals, Inc is an equipment rental company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The company provides construction, industrial, commercial, and homeowner customers with access to equipment without requiring them to purchase and maintain their own fleets.

Its rental fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling equipment, trench safety products, power-generation and climate-control equipment, pumps, tools, and general construction equipment. United Rentals also provides specialty services such as mobile storage, fluid solutions, power and HVAC support, and project-based equipment management.

Founded in 1997, United Rentals has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions into a large equipment-rental network serving customers primarily in the United States and Canada, with additional operations in Europe and Australia.