Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 906,452 Shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) by 8,012.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 917,765 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 906,452 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of WillScot worth $25,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of WillScot during the fourth quarter worth $97,734,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of WillScot by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,314,494 shares of the company's stock worth $345,020,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639,559 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WillScot by 747.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,820,316 shares of the company's stock worth $60,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,436 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of WillScot by 1,246.2% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,229,196 shares of the company's stock worth $41,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of WillScot by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,307,738 shares of the company's stock worth $177,544,000 after purchasing an additional 897,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WillScot news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.19 per share, for a total transaction of $261,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,906.96. This trade represents a 185.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bradley Lee Soultz bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.79 per share, for a total transaction of $267,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 128,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,451,007.43. This represents a 8.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of WillScot in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of WillScot from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of WillScot from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.63.

WillScot Stock Performance

Shares of WillScot stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.08. 1,319,206 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,676,485. WillScot Holdings Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $43.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 323.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.56.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.04). WillScot had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 26.28%. The company had revenue of $559.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $555.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. WillScot's payout ratio is presently 311.11%.

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.