Morgan Stanley Cuts WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) Price Target to $37.00

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $37.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. DA Davidson decreased their price target on WillScot from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of WillScot in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

WillScot Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:WSC opened at $24.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.20. WillScot has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $42.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.33 and a 200 day moving average of $29.63.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $589.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.07 million. WillScot had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 24.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WillScot will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. WillScot’s payout ratio is presently 46.67%.

Insider Activity

In other WillScot news, CEO Bradley Lee Soultz purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 418,376 shares in the company, valued at $10,396,643.60. This represents a 0.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone purchased 10,000 shares of WillScot stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.19 per share, with a total value of $261,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,384 shares in the company, valued at $402,906.96. The trade was a 185.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 15,000 shares of company stock worth $387,650. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WillScot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in WillScot by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,338,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,653 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of WillScot by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,554,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,785,000 after purchasing an additional 595,063 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WillScot by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,685,000 after purchasing an additional 180,797 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of WillScot by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,307,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,544,000 after purchasing an additional 897,184 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in WillScot during the first quarter worth $145,392,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.81% of the company’s stock.

WillScot Company Profile

WillScot Holdings Corporation provides workspace and portable storage solutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in two segments, Modular Solutions and Storage Solutions. Its modular solutions include panelized and stackable offices, single-wide modular space units, section modulars and redi-plex, classrooms, ground level offices, blast-resistant modules, clearspan structures, and other modular space; and portable storage solutions, such as portable and cold storage containers, as well as trailers.