United Rentals (URI) Competitors

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Which has more risk & volatility, GWW or URI?

W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Rentals has a beta of 1.76, meaning that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, GWW or URI?

United Rentals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than W.W. Grainger. United Rentals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.W. Grainger, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.W. Grainger	$17.17B	2.77	$1.91B	$38.71	25.50
United Rentals	$15.35B	2.75	$2.58B	$38.75	16.70

Is GWW or URI more profitable?

United Rentals has a net margin of 16.78% compared to W.W. Grainger's net margin of 11.12%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 52.43% beat United Rentals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.W. Grainger	11.12%	52.43%	22.15%
United Rentals	16.78%	34.21%	10.37%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in GWW or URI?

United Rentals received 219 more outperform votes than W.W. Grainger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.86% of users gave United Rentals an outperform vote while only 53.42% of users gave W.W. Grainger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
W.W. Grainger	Outperform Votes 547 53.42%	Underperform Votes 477 46.58%
United Rentals	Outperform Votes 766 64.86%	Underperform Votes 415 35.14%

Is GWW or URI a better dividend stock?

W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $8.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. United Rentals pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. W.W. Grainger pays out 21.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Rentals pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. W.W. Grainger has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years. United Rentals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor GWW or URI?

In the previous week, United Rentals had 20 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for United Rentals and 20 mentions for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat United Rentals' score of 1.35 indicating that W.W. Grainger is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
W.W. Grainger	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
United Rentals	26 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of GWW or URI?

80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of United Rentals shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of United Rentals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer GWW or URI?

W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus price target of $1,151.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.66%. United Rentals has a consensus price target of $804.15, indicating a potential upside of 24.27%. Given United Rentals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe United Rentals is more favorable than W.W. Grainger.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.W. Grainger	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
United Rentals	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53

Summary

United Rentals beats W.W. Grainger on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.