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

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 4,100 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,351,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in URI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $586,415,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in United Rentals by 104,089.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,341,964 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $476,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340,676 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in United Rentals by 58,829.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,043,051 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $598,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,281 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in United Rentals by 49.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 672,534 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,890,000 after purchasing an additional 221,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in United Rentals by 2.3% during 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 last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

URI has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of United Rentals from $718.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of United Rentals from $494.00 to $591.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of United Rentals from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of United Rentals from $322.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $589.21.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In related news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total value of $508,105.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,485.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

United Rentals Stock Down 1.6 %

United Rentals stock opened at $655.97 on Wednesday. United Rentals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $325.15 and a twelve month high of $732.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $44.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $680.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.14.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The construction company reported $11.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.85 by $0.41. United Rentals had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 36.80%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.74 EPS. United Rentals’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 43.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $1.63 dividend. This is a positive change from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.44%.

United Rentals announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

United Rentals Company 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.