London, March 9, 2026, 21:51 GMT.
Sunbelt Rentals Holdings disclosed Monday it repurchased 663,882 shares between March 2 and March 6—marking the first such update since the company’s main listing moved to New York and it kicked off its $1.5 billion buyback program. These shares will sit in treasury for the time being, the firm added.
Investors now get an early look at Sunbelt’s cash plans, spelled out in the filing after the buyback and U.S. relisting were announced. The timeline tightens from here: fiscal third-quarter results land March 12, with an investor day set for March 26.
The first week’s buying all took place on the London Stock Exchange, according to the report. Using the daily weighted average prices from those disclosures, the total value of shares bought so far came in around 36.2 million pounds. Sunbelt put the number of shares still outstanding after those transactions at 413.3 million.
Sunbelt shares started trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 2, following a share swap that saw former Ashtead holders issued one Sunbelt share for every Ashtead share. CEO Brendan Horgan described the transition as putting the company “well positioned to support the next generation of infrastructure.” Finance chief Alex Pease expects the NYSE listing to “increase our visibility among institutional and retail investors.” The equipment rental group says it operates with 24,000 employees, runs more than 1,600 locations, and controls a fleet valued at over $19 billion. Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc.
Scale still rules here. Sunbelt ranks just behind United Rentals as the No. 2 U.S. equipment rental name by market share, while Herc is going after growth through its H&E Equipment Services acquisition—stepping in after United dropped out of the running.
Shares of Sunbelt on the New York exchange traded up 1.25%, hitting $75.36 in delayed action Monday, LSEG data showed on Reuters.
Conditions remain uneven. In June, Ashtead pointed out that strength in data center, semiconductor, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects was making up for softness in U.S. commercial construction. High interest rates and lingering supply chain issues, though, kept non-residential demand under pressure.
Back in December, the company rolled out its $1.5 billion buyback alongside a half-year profit update that fell short of forecasts—higher repair expenses combined with a drop in hurricane activity weighed on the numbers. Despite the miss, it stuck to its full-year guidance.
The buyback leaves the bigger growth question hanging. If Thursday’s numbers show that the big-project pipeline can’t make up for sluggish commercial construction—or weather work stays quiet—investors could start looking past the cash handout and zero in on demand. That’s the read from the company’s June guidance and December update before this week’s earnings call.
