Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 8,333 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. $URI

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 5.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 163,334 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 8,333 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $155,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in United Rentals by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 825 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $124,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 7,236 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,908,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in United Rentals by 15.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 47,647 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $45,487,000 after buying an additional 6,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded United Rentals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,025.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Sunday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $970.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $995.00 to $1,071.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of United Rentals from $1,123.00 to $1,041.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of United Rentals from $1,150.00 to $970.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Rentals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $925.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Rentals news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 2,490 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $791.14, for a total value of $1,969,938.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 7,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,900,322.12. The trade was a 25.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William E. Grace sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $790.89, for a total transaction of $1,184,753.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,434,996.08. This represents a 17.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Rentals Price Performance

URI opened at $811.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $872.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $886.28. United Rentals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $525.91 and a 1 year high of $1,021.47. The firm has a market cap of $51.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $11.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.86 by ($0.77). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 30.35%. United Rentals’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $11.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $1.97 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This is an increase from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

United Rentals announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Company Profile

United Rentals, Inc (NYSE: URI) is a leading equipment rental company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm provides rental solutions and related services to construction, industrial, commercial, and municipal customers. Its business model centers on providing access to a broad fleet of equipment on a short-term or long-term basis, enabling customers to avoid the capital expenditure of ownership and to scale equipment use to match project needs.

The company’s product and service offerings span general construction equipment and a range of specialty categories, including aerial work platforms, earthmoving and excavation machines, material handling equipment, pumps, power and HVAC systems, trench and shoring solutions, and tools.