McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MGRC. CJS Securities began coverage on McGrath RentCorp in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of McGrath RentCorp from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

McGrath RentCorp Stock Up 4.1 %

McGrath RentCorp stock opened at $128.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $117.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.93. McGrath RentCorp has a twelve month low of $95.50 and a twelve month high of $129.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.77.

McGrath RentCorp (NASDAQ:MGRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $243.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.93 million. McGrath RentCorp had a return on equity of 14.12% and a net margin of 25.44%. Equities analysts expect that McGrath RentCorp will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McGrath RentCorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This is a positive change from McGrath RentCorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. McGrath RentCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.15%.

Insider Activity

In other McGrath RentCorp news, VP Gilda Malek sold 919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.78, for a total value of $111,915.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McGrath RentCorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in McGrath RentCorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,726,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,836,000 after acquiring an additional 29,467 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in McGrath RentCorp by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,896,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $212,116,000 after purchasing an additional 649,567 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in McGrath RentCorp by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,199,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,091,000 after purchasing an additional 87,329 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of McGrath RentCorp by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 917,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,610,000 after purchasing an additional 97,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of McGrath RentCorp by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 788,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,198,000 after purchasing an additional 50,674 shares during the period. 92.05% of the stock is currently 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.