McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MGRC. CJS Securities started coverage on McGrath RentCorp in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $152.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of McGrath RentCorp from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

McGrath RentCorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MGRC traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 117,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,443. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.77. McGrath RentCorp has a 1 year low of $95.50 and a 1 year high of $130.86.

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $266.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.76 million. McGrath RentCorp had a net margin of 25.29% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that McGrath RentCorp will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at McGrath RentCorp

In other news, VP Gilda Malek sold 919 shares of McGrath RentCorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.78, for a total value of $111,915.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David M. Whitney sold 5,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total transaction of $605,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 205 shares in the company, valued at $23,985. This represents a 96.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,935 shares of company stock valued at $5,605,327 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McGrath RentCorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in McGrath RentCorp by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McGrath RentCorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McGrath RentCorp by 57.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,111,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,456,000 after buying an additional 404,884 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in McGrath RentCorp in the third quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McGrath RentCorp by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. 92.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About McGrath RentCorp

McGrath RentCorp operates as a business to business rental company in the United States and internationally. It rents and sells relocatable modular buildings, portable storage containers, and electronic test equipment. The company operates through four segments: Mobile Modular, Portable Storage, TRS-RenTelco, and Enviroplex.