WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) Given New $37.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced its price target for WillScot from $39.00 to $37.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 46.01%.
• The company's stock traded at $25.34 during midday trading, with a 12-month trading range between $21.91 and $42.15.
• Research analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Hold" for WillScot, with five analysts rating it as a hold and three as a buy.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Free Report) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $37.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WSC. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of WillScot in a report on Thursday, May 29th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of WillScot from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WillScot has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.00.

WillScot Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of WillScot stock traded down $0.39 on Monday, hitting $24.29. 169,696 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,672,471. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.55. WillScot has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $42.15. The firm's 50-day moving average is $28.28 and its 200 day moving average is $29.55.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $589.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.07 million. WillScot had a return on equity of 24.83% and a net margin of 4.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that WillScot will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. WillScot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.67%.

Insider Activity

In other WillScot news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.19 per share, with a total value of $261,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at $402,906.96. This 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 hyperlink. Also, CEO Bradley Lee Soultz bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 418,376 shares in the company, valued at $10,396,643.60. This trade represents a 0.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 15,000 shares of company stock worth $387,650. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in WillScot by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,554,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $185,785,000 after buying an additional 595,063 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of WillScot by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462,958 shares of the company's stock worth $149,685,000 after buying an additional 180,797 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of WillScot by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,307,738 shares of the company's stock worth $177,544,000 after acquiring an additional 897,184 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of WillScot in the 1st quarter worth approximately $145,392,000. Institutional investors own 95.81% of the company's stock.

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.