First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 248,572 Shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation $WSC

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors increased its WillScot stake by 85.8% in the first quarter, adding 248,572 shares to own 538,176 shares valued at approximately $9.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.81% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.25. Recent targets range from $24 to $30, including a buy rating from Citigroup and an outperform rating from Oppenheimer.
• WillScot exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.21 in EPS and $548.63 million in revenue, while revenue declined 2% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, representing a 1.2% annualized yield.

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) by 85.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 538,176 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 248,572 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.30% of WillScot worth $9,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in WillScot by 117.3% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of WillScot by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of WillScot by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of WillScot during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of WillScot by 130.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,766 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares during the last quarter. 95.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of WillScot from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WillScot in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on WillScot from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 target price on WillScot in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on WillScot from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.25.

WillScot Price Performance

WSC opened at $24.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.03. WillScot Holdings Corporation has a twelve month low of $14.91 and a twelve month high of $30.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.89, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.32.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $548.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $518.17 million. WillScot had a negative net margin of 2.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.65%. WillScot's revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts expect that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

WillScot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. WillScot's payout ratio is presently -73.68%.

Insider Activity

In other WillScot news, Director Bradley Lee Soultz sold 4,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total transaction of $111,896.64. Following the sale, the director owned 414,059 shares in the company, valued at $10,732,409.28. This represents a 1.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 155,781 shares of company stock worth $4,205,113 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

WillScot 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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