WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• WillScot’s trading volume surged 126% to roughly 5.2 million shares, while the stock slipped to $21.82 from a $22.00 close.
• Analysts maintain a broadly neutral outlook: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $26.50 price target, though individual targets range from $26 to $29.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with $0.28 EPS and $612.15 million in revenue, up 3.9% year over year, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share.

Shares of WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . Approximately 5,201,883 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 126% from the previous session's volume of 2,304,726 shares.The stock last traded at $21.82 and had previously closed at $22.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WSC. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on WillScot from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WillScot in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $26.00 price target on WillScot in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on WillScot from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WillScot from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.50.

WillScot Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -57.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.33.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. WillScot had a negative net margin of 3.00% and a positive return on equity of 21.62%. The business had revenue of $612.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $585.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WillScot Holdings Corporation will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. WillScot's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -73.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WillScot

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WillScot by 71.7% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,730,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,298,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,350 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in WillScot by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,774,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,743,000 after buying an additional 80,713 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in WillScot by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,522,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,988,000 after buying an additional 4,250,951 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in WillScot by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,489,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,368,000 after buying an additional 536,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coliseum Capital Management LLC raised its stake in WillScot by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Coliseum Capital Management LLC now owns 5,111,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,251,000 after buying an additional 2,117,247 shares during the last quarter. 95.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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