Bessemer Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in United Rentals, Inc. $URI

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 164,367 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 815 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $156,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in URI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,494,303 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,646,208,000 after acquiring an additional 72,267 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in United Rentals by 71.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,874,127 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,411,968,000 after buying an additional 780,322 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,231,108 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $927,517,000 after acquiring an additional 70,870 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in United Rentals by 3.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,030,232 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $776,177,000 after acquiring an additional 36,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in United Rentals during the 2nd quarter valued at $776,102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at United Rentals

In other news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 2,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $791.14, for a total transaction of $1,969,938.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,900,322.12. This trade represents a 25.03% 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of United Rentals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,025.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Sunday, January 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of United Rentals from $1,090.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $970.00 target price on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of United Rentals from $995.00 to $1,071.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $925.59.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of URI opened at $847.59 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $849.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $887.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $53.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.70. United Rentals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $525.91 and a 12-month high of $1,021.47.

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

United Rentals announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 8.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.97 per share. This is a boost from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. United Rentals’s payout ratio is presently 18.51%.

United Rentals 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.