Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,100 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,351,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in United Rentals by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,179,328 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,905,379,000 after purchasing an additional 186,931 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of United Rentals by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,756,009 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $624,121,000 after acquiring an additional 170,958 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $586,415,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Rentals by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,441,997 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $569,394,000 after acquiring an additional 39,917 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of United Rentals by 104,089.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,341,964 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $476,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total transaction of $508,105.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,485.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on URI shares. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $485.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $494.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $325.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on United Rentals from $322.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $589.21.

United Rentals Stock Down 1.6 %

URI stock opened at $655.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.81. United Rentals, Inc. has a one year low of $325.15 and a one year high of $732.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $680.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.14.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The construction company reported $11.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.85 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 36.80%. United Rentals’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that United Rentals, Inc. will post 43.13 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This is a boost from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. United Rentals’s payout ratio is currently 18.44%.

About United Rentals

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.