WillScot Holdings Corporation $WSC Shares Purchased by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in WillScot Holdings by 13.9% in Q1, owning approximately 0.09% of the company worth $4.37 million.
• WillScot's recent earnings report showed a profit of $0.27 per share, which missed the consensus estimate of $0.36, resulting in a year-over-year revenue decline of 2.6%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 46.67%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 157,310 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,140 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of WillScot worth $4,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSC. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of WillScot by 444.7% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 56,374 shares of the company's stock worth $1,567,000 after buying an additional 46,024 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in WillScot by 273.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 933 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in WillScot by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in WillScot in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,148,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in WillScot in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,987,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WSC. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on WillScot from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on WillScot from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of WillScot in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WillScot currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.00.

WillScot Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of WSC stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.89. 1,936,757 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,111,167. WillScot Holdings Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $42.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $26.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.32. 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 posted 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 business had revenue of $589.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. WillScot's revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. WillScot has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 46.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Bradley Lee Soultz acquired 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.35 per share, for a total transaction of $76,050.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 126,817 shares in the company, valued at $3,214,810.95. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dominick P. Zarcone acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.19 per share, with a total value of $261,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,384 shares in the company, valued at $402,906.96. This trade represents a 185.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 15,000 shares of company stock valued at $387,650 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About WillScot

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.