United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) Holdings Increased by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,180 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in URI. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in United Rentals by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,093,350 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $770,199,000 after purchasing an additional 97,336 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,250,324 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $880,778,000 after buying an additional 172,340 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in United Rentals by 241.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 41 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in United Rentals by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,670 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,743,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in United Rentals by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,529,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on URI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $940.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Baird R W raised United Rentals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on United Rentals from $1,004.00 to $974.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on United Rentals from $985.00 to $835.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised United Rentals from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $658.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Rentals news, CFO William E. Grace sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $638.10, for a total value of $701,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,390,128. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:URI opened at $631.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $41.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.76. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $585.27 and a fifty-two week high of $896.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $680.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $753.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $11.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.65 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 34.21%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is an increase from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is 18.48%.

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.