WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on WillScot from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of WillScot from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on WillScot from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of WillScot in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of WillScot in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.38.

WillScot Trading Down 7.8%

Shares of WSC opened at $21.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.12. WillScot has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $34.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.94 and a 200 day moving average of $21.32.

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

WillScot Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSC. Xponance LLC boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 14,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in WillScot by 22.9% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in shares of WillScot by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of WillScot by 1.5% in 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. lifted its stake 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 period. 95.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WillScot Company Profile

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.