McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of McGrath RentCorp from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. CJS Securities assumed coverage on McGrath RentCorp in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $152.00 price target for the company.

McGrath RentCorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MGRC opened at $118.28 on Friday. McGrath RentCorp has a one year low of $95.50 and a one year high of $130.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $116.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.81. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.77.

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $266.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.76 million. McGrath RentCorp had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 25.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that McGrath RentCorp will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

McGrath RentCorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. McGrath RentCorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.77%.

Insider Activity at McGrath RentCorp

In other news, CEO Joseph F. Hanna sold 15,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total value of $1,898,899.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,630,430.92. This represents a 9.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gilda Malek sold 919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.78, for a total transaction of $111,915.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,935 shares of company stock worth $5,605,327. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MGRC. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McGrath RentCorp by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,247,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,324,000 after buying an additional 505,817 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of McGrath RentCorp by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,111,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,456,000 after purchasing an additional 404,884 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in McGrath RentCorp by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 755,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,546,000 after purchasing an additional 47,872 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in McGrath RentCorp by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 593,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,432,000 after buying an additional 12,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in McGrath RentCorp by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 578,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,890,000 after buying an additional 6,165 shares during the last quarter. 92.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About McGrath RentCorp

McGrath RentCorp operates as a business to business rental company in the United States and internationally. It rents and sells relocatable modular buildings, portable storage containers, and electronic test equipment. The company operates through four segments: Mobile Modular, Portable Storage, TRS-RenTelco, and Enviroplex.