Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of WillScot Call Options (NASDAQ:WSC)

WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 13,338 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 514% compared to the average volume of 2,171 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSC. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of WillScot from $28.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of WillScot from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of WillScot in a report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on WillScot from $29.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on WillScot from $30.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WillScot presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WillScot

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in WillScot by 11.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in WillScot by 73.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG raised its stake in WillScot by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 4,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of WillScot by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 61,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in WillScot by 11.8% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares during the period. 95.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WillScot Price Performance

WillScot stock traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.82. 2,130,645 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,457,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.88. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.09, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40. WillScot has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $29.77.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $612.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $585.43 million. WillScot had a positive return on equity of 21.62% and a negative net margin of 3.00%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WillScot will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

WillScot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. WillScot’s payout ratio is currently -73.68%.

WillScot Company Profile

WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: WSC) provides flexible workspace and storage solutions primarily to customers across North America. The company offers modular buildings, mobile offices, portable classrooms, storage units and other temporary or permanent space solutions for businesses, schools, construction sites, health care organizations, government agencies and other institutions.

In addition to renting and selling modular space and portable storage products, WillScot provides related services such as delivery, installation, relocation, site improvements, furnishings and facility services.