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Valued at $56.4 billion by market cap, Stamford, Connecticut-based United Rentals, Inc. (URI) is the largest equipment rental company in the world. It serves numerous construction and industrial companies, utilities, municipalities, homeowners, and communities through its 1,666 rental locations spread across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," United Rentals fits this bill perfectly. Given the company’s extensive network and dominance in the equipment rental space, its valuation above this mark is not surprising. The company employs over 26,600 employees and offers approximately 4,800 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of approximately $21.9 billion.
United Rentals recently touched its all-time high of $896.98 on Nov. 11 and is currently trading 4.2% below that peak. URI stock prices have surged 26.1% over the past three months, outpacing the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 12.6% gains during the same time frame.
Over the longer term, United Rentals' performance looks even more impressive. URI stock prices soared 49.8% on a YTD basis and a massive 80.3% over the past year, substantially outperforming SPX’s 27.7% gains in 2024 and 33.9% returns over the past year.
To confirm the bullish trend, URI stock has consistently traded above its 200-day moving average over the past year and above its 50-day moving average since mid-July with some fluctuations.
However, URI stock prices dipped 1.1% in the trading session after the release of its Q3 results on Oct. 23 as its adjusted EPS of $11.80, lagged Wall Street’s expectations by 5.5%. During the quarter, the company’s profitability took a slight hit, as its cost of equipment rentals went up 8.2% compared to the year-ago quarter to approximately $1.4 billion along with a notable increase in depreciation. This resulted in a modest 71 basis point growth in net income to $708 million, despite a notable topline growth.
Nevertheless, United Rentals' overall performance has remained impressive. Its total revenues surged over 6% compared to the year-ago quarter to approximately $4 billion. Meanwhile, its cash flow from operations soared 13.4% year-over-year to $1.2 billion. Furthermore, the company remains confident in its longer-term growth prospects, world-class service and innovative solutions to drive sustainable value for shareholders. Moreover, it also reaffirmed the mid-points of its full-year guidance across all metrics.
United Rentals has outperformed its competitor H&E Equipment Services, Inc. (HEES) by a large margin. HEES stock gained 14.7% on a YTD basis and 30.6% over the past year.
Among the 19 analysts covering the URI stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” As of writing the stock is trading slightly above its mean price target of $832.67.
