Hodges Capital Management Inc. Has $853,000 Position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,183 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,351,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at about $257,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at about $780,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in United Rentals by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 6,413 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after buying an additional 2,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in United Rentals by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 99,372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $56,982,000 after buying an additional 31,398 shares in the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Rentals Trading Up 3.8 %

URI opened at $646.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $43.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $660.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $645.01. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $387.01 and a fifty-two week high of $732.37.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $9.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.35 by $0.80. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.44 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 36.44%. United Rentals’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 43.87 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. United Rentals’s payout ratio is presently 17.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Rentals

In other United Rentals news, CEO Matthew John Flannery sold 8,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $699.63, for a total value of $5,862,199.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,341,742. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other United Rentals news, CEO Matthew John Flannery sold 8,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $699.63, for a total value of $5,862,199.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,341,742. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael D. Durand sold 559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $674.56, for a total transaction of $377,079.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,431,557.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on URI shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $745.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James started coverage on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $750.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of United Rentals from $718.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of United Rentals from $720.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $638.40.

United Rentals Company 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.