Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 16,985 Shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 33.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,961 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,985 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in United Rentals were worth $42,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Rentals by 241.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 41 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of United Rentals in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 96.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on URI. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on United Rentals from $732.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on United Rentals from $850.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on United Rentals from $780.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Redburn Atlantic downgraded United Rentals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $760.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Cfra Research raised United Rentals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Rentals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $753.64.

United Rentals Stock Performance

Shares of URI opened at $705.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $673.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $686.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.70. United Rentals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $525.91 and a 52 week high of $896.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.92 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. United Rentals had a return on equity of 33.11% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael D. Durand sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.28, for a total value of $688,908.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,478,697.44. This represents a 11.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew B. Limoges sold 708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.86, for a total value of $499,748.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,957.06. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

About United Rentals

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.