United Rentals stock gains after earnings as company plans to start paying a dividend, buying back stock again

Shares of United Rentals Inc. URI were up about 4% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company announced alongside is latest earnings that it was instituting a dividend and bringing back its buyback program. United Rentals reported fourth-quarter net income of $639 million, or $9.15 a share, compared with $481 million, or $6.61 a share, in the year-prior quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $9.74 a share, up from $7.39 a share a year before, while the FactSet consensus was for $10.14 a share. Revenue rose to $3.30 billion from $2.78 billion, whereas analysts had been looking for $3.30 billion. For…