United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $1,300.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised United Rentals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,275.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,250.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of United Rentals from $1,195.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,230.88.

United Rentals Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE URI opened at $994.75 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,074.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $967.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.79. United Rentals has a fifty-two week low of $701.59 and a fifty-two week high of $1,179.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $12.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.53 by $1.23. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 31.72% and a net margin of 15.67%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.47 EPS. Equities analysts expect that United Rentals will post 48.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $1.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. United Rentals’s payout ratio is 18.92%.

Insider Activity

In other United Rentals news, EVP William Grace sold 1,500 shares of the 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 transaction of $1,699,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,869,155.30. This represents a 19.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in United Rentals by 2.4% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in United Rentals by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in United Rentals by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 76 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in United Rentals by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 605 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Rentals by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc is an equipment rental company serving construction, industrial, commercial, government and residential customers. The company provides access to a broad range of equipment without requiring customers to purchase and maintain their own fleets.

Its rental offerings include aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling equipment, trucks and trailers, power-generation and climate-control equipment, pumps, tools, trench-safety products and traffic-control equipment.