URI vs HERC Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
United Rentals and Herc Holdings both operate in the North American equipment rental industry, but United Rentals is the largest player with significant scale advantages and diversified specialty rental segments, while Herc Holdings operates at a smaller scale, pursuing growth through fleet expansion and acquisitions within the fragmented rental market.
United Rentals offers exposure to the largest, most diversified equipment rental platform in North America with strong free cash flow generation, while Herc Holdings offers a smaller-scale growth opportunity in the same fragmented industry. Consider whether you prefer United Rentals' scale leadership or Herc Holdings' growth potential as a smaller consolidator.
URI holds the edge across 2 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. URI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+6.83% vs 0.00% for HERC). On fundamentals, HERC is growing revenue faster (25.10%), while URI maintains the higher operating margin (25.99%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to the largest, most diversified equipment rental company in North America
- Value growing specialty rental segments as higher-margin diversification
- Believe scale advantages support durable purchasing power and fleet efficiency
- Prefer strong free cash flow generation supporting both reinvestment and shareholder returns
- Want exposure to a smaller-scale equipment rental company with growth potential
- Believe ongoing fleet expansion and acquisitions can grow scale within a fragmented industry
- Are comfortable with less purchasing power and diversification than the largest industry players
- See specialty equipment offerings as a path to margin differentiation
| Metric | URI | HERC |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 61.9 | N/A |
| AI ranki | #119 | N/A |
| Latest closei | $1,009.86 | $0.00 |
| 1M returni | -13.10% | 0.00% |
| 6M returni | +19.80% | 0.00% |
| 1Y returni | +6.83% | 0.00% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | URI | HERC |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.47K (+4.7%) started 2025-09-04 | $10K (+0.0%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $30.9K (+209.0%) started 2021-09-07 | $833.33 (-91.7%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $130.37K (+1203.7%) started 2016-09-06 | $526.32 (-94.7%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | URI | HERC |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $64.13B | $502.05K |
| Trailing P/Ei | 24.81 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 18.02 | N/A |
| Price/Salesi | 2.95 | 0.08 |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.72 | 0.09 |
| Analyst targeti | $1,272.43 | N/A |
| Target upsidei | +23.51% | N/A |
| Metric | URI | HERC |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 11.80% | 25.10% |
| Earnings growthi | 25.50% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +25.50% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +10.14% | -3.34% |
| Operating margini | 25.99% | -17.96% |
| Profit margini | 15.67% | -10.31% |
| ROIC proxyi | 28.89% | -587.05% |
| Return on equityi | 28.89% | -587.05% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.76% | 0.00% |
| Betai | 1.80 | 6580.04 |
| Debt/equityi | 166.79 | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 0.76 | 1.14 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.62 | 0.79 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | URI | HERC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +4.69% | 0.00% |
| CAGRi | +4.69% | 0.00% | |
| Volatilityi | 43.04% | 0.00% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.21 | N/A | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.34 | -15.87 | |
| Max drawdowni | 30.35% | 0.00% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.30% | 0.00% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.41% | 0.00% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.42% | 0.00% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.86% | 0.00% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.67% | 0.00% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +200.36% | -91.67% |
| CAGRi | +24.65% | -39.22% | |
| Volatilityi | 39.13% | 16983.30% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.64 | 0.45 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.99 | 124.69 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.96% | 99.74% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.30% | 99.74% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.35% | 93.58% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.88% | 94.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.86% | 99.74% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.71% | 99.74% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1167.07% | -94.74% |
| CAGRi | +28.93% | -25.52% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.32% | 12281.21% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.71 | 0.43 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.05 | 44.60 | |
| Max drawdowni | 63.26% | 99.74% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.30% | 99.74% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.40% | 73.31% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.02% | 79.43% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.54% | 99.74% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 30.54% | 99.74% |
| Category | URI | HERC |
|---|---|---|
| Company | United Rentals, Inc. | Herc Holdings Inc. |
| Sector | Industrials | Construction |
| Industry | Rental & Leasing Services | Specialty Chemicals |
| Core business | The largest equipment rental company in North America, renting a broad range of construction and industrial equipment to contractors, industrial companies, and other customers, while continuing to expand its specialty rental segments. | A North American equipment rental company renting construction, industrial, and specialty equipment to contractors and industrial customers, operating at a smaller scale than the largest players in the fragmented equipment rental industry. |
| Investor focus | Fleet utilization rates and rental rate trends, specialty rental segment growth, and free cash flow generation supporting acquisitions and shareholder returns. | Fleet utilization and rental rate trends, growth through both organic fleet expansion and acquisitions, and margin improvement relative to larger scale competitors. |
- Largest scale in the North American equipment rental industry supports purchasing power and fleet diversification advantages
- Growing specialty rental segments, such as power and climate control equipment, provide higher-margin diversification beyond general equipment rental
- Strong free cash flow generation has historically supported both fleet reinvestment and shareholder capital returns
- Focused equipment rental business model provides direct leverage to construction and industrial rental demand trends
- Ongoing fleet expansion and acquisition strategy aims to grow scale within the fragmented equipment rental industry
- Specialty equipment offerings provide some differentiation and margin opportunity beyond general equipment rental
- Equipment rental demand is sensitive to construction and industrial activity cycles, which can soften during economic slowdowns
- Large fleet requires significant ongoing capital expenditure to maintain and modernize equipment
- Faces competition from other national and regional equipment rental companies across its markets
- Smaller scale than the largest equipment rental competitors limits purchasing power and fleet diversification advantages
- Equipment rental demand is sensitive to construction and industrial activity cycles, which can soften during economic slowdowns
- Growth through acquisitions carries integration risk and requires ongoing access to capital
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.