Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 90,160 Shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation $WSC

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in WillScot Holdings by 31.3% in Q1, buying 90,160 additional shares to bring its total holding to 378,048 shares worth about $6.56 million.
• WillScot posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting EPS of $0.21 versus $0.16 expected and revenue of $548.63 million versus $518.17 million expected, though sales were still down 2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment on WSC is mixed but currently leans cautious: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $26.25, while recent commentary included a Citi upgrade to Buy and Barclays raising its target to $24.

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) by 31.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 378,048 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 90,160 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of WillScot worth $6,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in WillScot by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of WillScot during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in WillScot by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,961 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.81% of the company's stock.

WillScot Price Performance

WSC stock opened at $27.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.66. WillScot Holdings Corporation has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $31.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.66, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.79.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $548.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $518.17 million. WillScot had a positive return on equity of 20.65% and a negative net margin of 2.99%.The company's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. WillScot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -73.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WSC shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on WillScot from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of WillScot in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of WillScot in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WillScot from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of WillScot from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WillScot currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

Insider Transactions at WillScot

In other news, Director Bradley Lee Soultz sold 86,421 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.99, for a total transaction of $2,332,502.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 197,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,333,089.05. This represents a 30.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 155,781 shares of company stock valued at $4,205,113 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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