Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,025 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,131,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in URI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 15.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 787,877 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $637,968,000 after buying an additional 105,287 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 3.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,568 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,956,768,000 after buying an additional 85,325 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 10.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 704,145 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $570,167,000 after buying an additional 66,957 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 6.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 996,014 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $862,110,000 after buying an additional 57,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 1,067.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 59,879 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,486,000 after buying an additional 54,750 shares during the last quarter. 96.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on URI. Argus upped their target price on shares of United Rentals from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $1,004.00 to $974.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Baird R W upgraded shares of United Rentals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $775.00 to $765.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of United Rentals from $985.00 to $835.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Rentals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.00.

United Rentals Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of URI opened at $629.17 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $728.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $770.29. United Rentals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $596.48 and a twelve month high of $896.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.68.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $11.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.65 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 34.21% and a net margin of 16.78%. On average, research analysts predict that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This is an increase from United Rentals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio is 18.48%.

United Rentals Company 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.