Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 454 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in United Rentals during the third quarter worth about $25,000. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp grew its position 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals during the second quarter worth about $27,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of United Rentals by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 48 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals during the third quarter worth about $29,000. 96.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on United Rentals from $575.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on United Rentals from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on United Rentals from $322.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on United Rentals in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on United Rentals from $718.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $589.21.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of URI stock traded down $4.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $628.34. The stock had a trading volume of 572,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,070. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.84. United Rentals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $325.15 and a twelve month high of $732.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $679.93 and its 200 day moving average is $570.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The construction company reported $11.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.85 by $0.41. United Rentals had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 43.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This is a boost from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is 18.44%.

United Rentals declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at United Rentals

In other news, CFO William E. Grace sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $655.62, for a total transaction of $508,105.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,485.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

United Rentals Profile

United Rentals, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company. It operates in two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment includes backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, such as boom and scissor lifts; and general tools and light equipment comprising pressure washers, water pumps, and power tools for construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and government entities.