William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in WillScot Holdings Corporation $WSC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management cut its WillScot stake by 50.2% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 2.65 million shares worth about $49.9 million.
• WillScot’s latest quarterly earnings beat expectations, posting $0.21 EPS versus the $0.16 estimate and revenue of $548.6 million versus $518.2 million expected, though revenue still fell 2% year over year.
• Analysts currently have a Hold consensus on the stock with an average price target of $25.88, while WillScot also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share.

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,649,427 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,667,864 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.46% of WillScot worth $49,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WillScot by 71.7% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,730,347 shares of the company's stock worth $184,298,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645,350 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in WillScot by 1.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,547,129 shares of the company's stock worth $74,874,000 after buying an additional 33,383 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in WillScot by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,176,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,820,000 after acquiring an additional 122,229 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of WillScot by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,834,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,839,000 after acquiring an additional 520,867 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of WillScot by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,481,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,384,000 after acquiring an additional 90,752 shares during the period. 95.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WillScot

In other news, Director Bradley Lee Soultz sold 4,317 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 155,781 shares of company stock worth $4,205,113 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of WillScot in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of WillScot from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of WillScot from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of WillScot in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of WillScot from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.88.

WillScot Price Performance

NASDAQ WSC opened at $24.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of -65.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.31. WillScot Holdings Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.91 and a 52 week high of $31.88. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $20.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.44.

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

WillScot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. WillScot's dividend payout ratio is currently -73.68%.

About WillScot

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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