WillScot (WSC) Competitors

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) are related companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Is WSC or URI more profitable?

United Rentals has a net margin of 16.11% compared to WillScot's net margin of 4.66%. United Rentals' return on equity of 32.01% beat WillScot's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WillScot	4.66%	24.83%	4.24%
United Rentals	16.11%	32.01%	9.85%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WSC or URI?

95.8% of WillScot shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of United Rentals shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of WillScot shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of United Rentals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer WSC or URI?

WillScot currently has a consensus target price of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 46.04%. United Rentals has a consensus target price of $834.64, suggesting a potential downside of 9.55%. Given WillScot's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe WillScot is more favorable than United Rentals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WillScot	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38
United Rentals	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Does the media refer more to WSC or URI?

In the previous week, United Rentals had 22 more articles in the media than WillScot. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for United Rentals and 15 mentions for WillScot. United Rentals' average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat WillScot's score of 1.03 indicating that United Rentals is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
WillScot	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Rentals	27 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, WSC or URI?

United Rentals has higher revenue and earnings than WillScot. United Rentals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WillScot, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WillScot	$2.40B	1.87	$28.13M	$0.60	41.08
United Rentals	$15.35B	3.87	$2.58B	$38.67	23.86

Is WSC or URI a better dividend stock?

WillScot pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. United Rentals pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. WillScot pays out 46.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Rentals pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. United Rentals has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility & risk, WSC or URI?

WillScot has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Rentals has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Rentals beats WillScot on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.