Northern Trust Corp Purchases 153,386 Shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation $WSC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in WillScot Holdings by 13.4%, owning over 1.3 million shares valued at approximately $36.1 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Insider activity includes EVP Hezron T. Lopez selling 22,000 shares and CEO Bradley Lee Soultz purchasing 2,000 shares, with various institutional investors also modifying their positions.
• Analysts have set a consensus rating of "Hold" for WillScot, with price targets recently adjusted downwards, indicating cautious sentiment amid a decline in earnings.

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) by 13.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,300,289 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 153,386 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.71% of WillScot worth $36,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 11.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,338,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $509,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,653 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of WillScot during the first quarter valued at approximately $145,392,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,832,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $161,641,000 after purchasing an additional 223,462 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,594,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,248,000 after purchasing an additional 693,243 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 1.8% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 2,803,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,926,000 after purchasing an additional 48,502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on WillScot from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of WillScot in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on WillScot from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.00.

WillScot Stock Performance

NASDAQ WSC traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $24.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,962,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,412,970. WillScot Holdings Corporation has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $42.15. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.89. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.55, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.09). WillScot had a return on equity of 24.83% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $589.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. WillScot has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. WillScot's payout ratio is currently 46.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Bradley Lee Soultz acquired 3,000 shares of WillScot stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.35 per share, with a total value of $76,050.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,817 shares in the company, valued at $3,214,810.95. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone acquired 10,000 shares of WillScot stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.19 per share, for a total transaction of $261,900.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 15,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,906.96. The trade was a 185.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 15,000 shares of company stock valued at $387,650. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

WillScot 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.