WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) Trading Down 6.5% After Analyst Downgrade

WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC) was down 6.5% during trading on Wednesday after DA Davidson lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $30.00. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock. WillScot traded as low as $22.12 and last traded at $22.1870. Approximately 1,620,922 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 1,796,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.73.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WSC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WillScot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on WillScot from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays decreased their price target on WillScot from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of WillScot in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on WillScot from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WillScot

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Xponance LLC boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 14,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in WillScot by 22.9% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in WillScot by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in WillScot by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 41,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of WillScot by 45.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.81% of the company’s stock.

WillScot Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.33. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of -73.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.86.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $565.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.34 million. WillScot had a positive return on equity of 20.42% and a negative net margin of 2.32%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. WillScot’s dividend payout ratio is presently -93.33%.

About WillScot

WillScot (NASDAQ: WSC) is a leading North American provider of modular space and portable storage solutions. The company designs, manufactures, leases and sells temporary and permanent modular buildings to serve sectors such as education, healthcare, construction, industrial and government. Its modular space offerings range from single‐unit office trailers and classrooms to complex multi‐unit configurations tailored to diverse project requirements.

In addition to modular structures, WillScot offers a broad portfolio of portable storage containers and related services, including site logistics, customization, delivery and installation.