Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Position in United Rentals, Inc. $URI

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,116 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,101 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $14,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 967 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of United Rentals by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in United Rentals by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 76 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 2.9% during the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 387 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 322 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,275.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $715.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on United Rentals from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $1,335.00 target price on shares of United Rentals and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of United Rentals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,246.19.

Insider Activity at United Rentals

In related news, EVP William E. 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 value of $1,699,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,869,155.30. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

United Rentals Price Performance

United Rentals stock opened at $1,130.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $70.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,092.50 and its 200-day moving average is $937.46. United Rentals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $701.59 and a 12 month high of $1,179.18.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The construction company reported $12.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.53 by $1.23. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.67% and a return on equity of 31.72%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that United Rentals, Inc. will post 48.55 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.97 per share. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. United Rentals’s payout ratio is 18.92%.

United Rentals Profile

United Rentals, Inc (NYSE: URI) is a leading equipment rental company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm provides rental solutions and related services to construction, industrial, commercial, and municipal customers. Its business model centers on providing access to a broad fleet of equipment on a short-term or long-term basis, enabling customers to avoid the capital expenditure of ownership and to scale equipment use to match project needs.

The company’s product and service offerings span general construction equipment and a range of specialty categories, including aerial work platforms, earthmoving and excavation machines, material handling equipment, pumps, power and HVAC systems, trench and shoring solutions, and tools.