Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in United Rentals, Inc. $URI

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 363,580 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,896,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in URI. SFE Investment Counsel bought a new position in United Rentals in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,765,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 19.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,623,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in shares of United Rentals by 995.1% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 13,612 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,016,000 after buying an additional 12,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 9.7% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

United Rentals Price Performance

Shares of URI stock opened at $1,052.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $65.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.80. United Rentals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $701.59 and a 12 month high of $1,179.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,098.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $954.20.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The construction company reported $12.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.53 by $1.23. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 15.67% and a return on equity of 31.72%. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.47 EPS. Research analysts expect that United Rentals, Inc. will post 48.55 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

URI has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $1,421.00 to $1,466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of United Rentals from $1,270.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Rentals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of United Rentals from $1,100.00 to $1,235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of United Rentals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,320.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,246.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Rentals news, EVP William E. Grace sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $6,869,155.30. This trade represents a 19.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About United Rentals

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.