New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 1,009 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. $URI

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,776 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,009 shares during the quarter. United Rentals makes up 3.4% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $7,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $776,102,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in United Rentals by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,874,127 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,411,968,000 after purchasing an additional 780,322 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in United Rentals by 74.5% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 715,250 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $542,526,000 after purchasing an additional 305,378 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in United Rentals during the second quarter worth approximately $152,069,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in United Rentals by 28.8% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 849,786 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $532,561,000 after buying an additional 190,007 shares during the period. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on URI. Robert W. Baird upgraded United Rentals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $888.00 to $1,050.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $1,128.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of United Rentals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of United Rentals from $620.00 to $600.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of United Rentals from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $900.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $961.72.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:URI opened at $810.64 on Tuesday. United Rentals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $525.91 and a 12-month high of $1,021.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $869.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $858.29. The firm has a market cap of $51.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $11.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.43 by ($0.73). The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 31.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. United Rentals’s payout ratio is currently 18.42%.

United Rentals Profile

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.