United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Rentals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $1,170.00 target price on shares of United Rentals in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,170.00 target price (down from $1,235.00) on shares of United Rentals in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $1,300.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of United Rentals from $1,195.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,239.19.

United Rentals Price Performance

NYSE:URI opened at $1,057.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,060.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,000.67. The company has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.83. United Rentals has a 52-week low of $701.59 and a 52-week high of $1,179.18.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $12.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.53 by $1.23. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 31.72% and a net margin of 15.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Rentals will post 48.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Grace sold 1,500 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,133.15, for a total transaction of $1,699,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,869,155.30. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Rentals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in URI. SFE Investment Counsel bought a new stake in United Rentals during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,765,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in United Rentals by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 95,940 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $77,666,000 after purchasing an additional 15,696 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in United Rentals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $944,196,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in United Rentals by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 10,782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,855,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in United Rentals by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 26,447 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $19,240,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc is an equipment rental company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The company provides construction, industrial, commercial, and homeowner customers with access to equipment without requiring them to purchase and maintain their own fleets.

Its rental fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material-handling equipment, trench safety products, power-generation and climate-control equipment, pumps, tools, and general construction equipment. United Rentals also provides specialty services such as mobile storage, fluid solutions, power and HVAC support, and project-based equipment management.

Founded in 1997, United Rentals has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions into a large equipment-rental network serving customers primarily in the United States and Canada, with additional operations in Europe and Australia.