United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

URI has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group set a $1,170.00 price objective on United Rentals in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,275.00 target price on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $1,300.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,170.00 price target (down from $1,235.00) on shares of United Rentals in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,230.88.

United Rentals Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE URI opened at $986.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.79. United Rentals has a twelve month low of $701.59 and a twelve month high of $1,179.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,076.70 and its 200 day moving average is $966.06.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $12.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.53 by $1.23. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 31.72% and a net margin of 15.67%.The business’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 firm earned $10.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Rentals will post 48.7 EPS 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 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. United Rentals’s payout ratio is currently 18.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $1,133.15, for a total transaction of $1,699,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,869,155.30. This represents a 19.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Rentals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of URI. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in United Rentals during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in United Rentals during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.