United Rentals (NYSE:URI – Get Free Report) and urban-gro (NASDAQ:UGRO – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.
Volatility and Risk
United Rentals has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, urban-gro has a beta of -2.91, meaning that its share price is 391% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
96.3% of United Rentals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.6% of urban-gro shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of United Rentals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of urban-gro shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United Rentals | 15.67% | 31.72% | 9.47% |
| urban-gro | -82.11% | -118.44% | -33.76% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares United Rentals and urban-gro”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United Rentals | $16.10 billion | 4.37 | $2.49 billion | $41.64 | 27.16 |
| urban-gro | $17.40 million | 0.10 | -$22.10 million | ($27.87) | -0.05 |
United Rentals has higher revenue and earnings than urban-gro. urban-gro is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Rentals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations for United Rentals and urban-gro, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United Rentals | 1 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 2.94 |
| urban-gro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
United Rentals currently has a consensus price target of $1,246.19, indicating a potential upside of 10.19%. Given United Rentals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe United Rentals is more favorable than urban-gro.
Summary
United Rentals beats urban-gro on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About United Rentals
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. The specialty segment rents specialty construction products, including trench safety equipment consists of trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers, and line testing equipment for underground work; power and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment; fluid solutions equipment for fluid containment, transfer, and treatment; and mobile storage equipment and modular office space. This segment serves construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, and municipalities and industrial companies. It also sells aerial lifts, reach forklifts, telehandlers, compressors, and generators; construction consumables, tools, small equipment, and safety supplies; and parts for equipment that is owned by its customers, as well as provides repair and maintenance services. The company sells used equipment through its sales force, brokers, website, at auctions, and directly to manufacturers. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. United Rentals, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
About urban-gro
urban-gro, Inc. engages in the designing, engineering, building, and integrating complex environmental equipment systems for indoor controlled environment agriculture (CEA) cultivation and retail facilities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company provides architectural design, engineering, and construction services comprising pre-construction, cultivation space programming (CSP), architectural and interior design, engineering, integrated cultivation design, owner's representative/construction management, and general contracting services; and maintenance, training, and support services. It also offers facility and equipment commissioning services; gro-care crop and asset protection services, including training services, equipment maintenance services, asset protection program, and an interactive online operating support system for gro-care and client document delivery and project management; and property condition assessment services. In addition, the company provides integrated equipment systems solutions, such as design, source, and integration of complex environmental equipment systems comprising heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions, as well as environmental control, fertigation, irrigation distribution, water treatment, and wastewater reclamation systems; and commercial horticulture lighting solutions, rolling and automated container benching systems, specialty fans, microbial mitigation, and odor reduction systems. Further, it offers value-Added Reselling (VAR) of cultivation equipment systems; and strategic vendor relationships with premier manufacturers. It primarily markets and sells its solutions to clients in the CEA that includes operators and facilitators in the cannabis and produce markets; and commercial sectors comprising food and beverage consumer packaged goods companies, healthcare, higher education, and hospitality. urban-gro, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is based in Lafayette, Colorado.
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