Renaissance Investment Group LLC Acquires 687 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,210 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the quarter. United Rentals accounts for 2.4% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $7,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in URI. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 1,900.0% during the third quarter. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp now owns 100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Trustcore Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 1,237.5% during the third quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Rentals during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 202.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 121 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 185.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 134 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew John Flannery sold 12,000 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.99, for a total transaction of $5,735,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 101,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,408,915.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other United Rentals news, COO Dale A. Asplund sold 13,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.26, for a total value of $5,842,393.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,388,843.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew John Flannery sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.99, for a total value of $5,735,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,408,915.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,672 shares of company stock valued at $13,871,422 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

URI has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on United Rentals from $380.00 to $436.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on United Rentals from $341.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Argus lifted their target price on United Rentals from $360.00 to $475.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on United Rentals from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on United Rentals in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $440.46.

United Rentals Price Performance

Shares of URI stock opened at $370.09 on Friday. United Rentals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.54 and a fifty-two week high of $481.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $431.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.57.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The construction company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.12 by ($0.38). United Rentals had a return on equity of 36.12% and a net margin of 18.08%. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.39 EPS. United Rentals’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 41.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 7th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.97%.

United Rentals Company Profile

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United Rentals, Inc engages in the equipment rental business. It operates through the General Rentals and Specialty segments. The General Rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial and industrial equipment, general tools and light equipment, and related services and activities. The Specialty segment focuses on the rental of specialty construction products such as trench safety equipment, power and HVAC equipment, fluid solutions equipment, mobile storage equipment and modular office space.