United Rentals (NYSE:URI) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has a $195.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock. Bank of America’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.68% from the stock’s current price.
URI has been the topic of several other research reports. ValuEngine upgraded shares of United Rentals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of United Rentals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of United Rentals from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Buckingham Research assumed coverage on shares of United Rentals in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $154.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.18.
United Rentals (NYSE:URI) traded up $4.28 on Tuesday, reaching $168.57. 1,292,000 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,551,377. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The company has a market cap of $14,260.00, a PE ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.67. United Rentals has a 1-year low of $100.62 and a 1-year high of $169.05.
United Rentals declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 18th that permits the company to buyback $373.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
In other news, Director Donald C. Roof sold 4,500 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.95, for a total transaction of $647,775.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Kneeland sold 25,421 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.76, for a total value of $4,137,521.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 245,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,922,749.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,760 shares of company stock valued at $13,873,111. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 4.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,531,812 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,074,330,000 after buying an additional 378,365 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 3.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,025,017 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $679,080,000 after buying an additional 190,803 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 15.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,843,162 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $658,586,000 after buying an additional 763,469 shares during the period. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. now owns 1,178,609 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $132,841,000 after buying an additional 23,895 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 8.4% during the third quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,073,773 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $148,976,000 after buying an additional 83,014 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.37% of the company’s stock.
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About United Rentals
United Rentals, Inc is a holding company. The Company is an equipment rental company, which operates throughout the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: general rentals, and trench, power and pump. The general rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial, industrial and homeowner equipment and related services and activities.
