United Rentals (NYSE:URI) Stock Falls 5.5% – Time to Sell?

United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)’s stock price fell 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $973.29 and last traded at $986.2140. 217,997 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 559,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,043.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on URI. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of United Rentals from $715.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of United Rentals in a report on Monday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $1,335.00 target price on shares of United Rentals and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $1,300.00 price objective on United Rentals in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,250.00 price target on shares of United Rentals in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,243.62.

United Rentals Trading Down 1.4%

The company has a market cap of $62.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,065.97 and its 200-day moving average is $984.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $12.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.53 by $1.23. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 48.7 EPS for the current year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $1.97 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. United Rentals’s payout ratio is currently 18.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP William Grace sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 6,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,869,155.30. This represents a 19.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in United Rentals by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,325,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in United Rentals by 62.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 946 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of United Rentals by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,993,837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,391,688,000 after buying an additional 32,238 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of United Rentals by 4.4% during the second quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. now owns 379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Rentals during the second quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Institutional investors own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

United Rentals Company Profile

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.