Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $44.42 Million Stock Holdings in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) by 212.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,051 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,893 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.10% of United Rentals worth $44,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Rentals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in United Rentals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in United Rentals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in United Rentals by 241.7% during 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. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of United Rentals in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Rentals

In related news, CFO William E. Grace sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $638.10, for a total transaction of $701,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,880 shares in the company, valued at $4,390,128. This represents a 13.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on URI. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on United Rentals from $535.00 to $571.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered shares of United Rentals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $910.00 to $485.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of United Rentals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of United Rentals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $705.00 to $666.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of United Rentals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $702.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $725.69.

United Rentals Stock Performance

URI opened at $641.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $612.77 and a 200-day moving average of $721.87. United Rentals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $525.91 and a 52-week high of $896.98.

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $8.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.92 by ($0.06). United Rentals had a return on equity of 34.21% and a net margin of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Rentals, Inc. will post 44.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Rentals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. United Rentals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.54%.

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.