Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC)

WillScot Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:WSC) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 13,338 call options on the company. This is an increase of 514% compared to the typical volume of 2,171 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented 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 price target 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of WillScot from $30.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of WillScot in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of WillScot from $29.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

WillScot Stock Up 8.1%

NASDAQ:WSC traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,130,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,457,968. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80. WillScot has a 1 year low of $14.91 and a 1 year high of $29.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.24 and a 200-day moving average of $21.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40.

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $585.43 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that WillScot will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

WillScot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 2nd. WillScot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -73.68%.

Institutional Trading of WillScot

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in WillScot in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,934,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WillScot by 27.3% in the first quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,870,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,624,000 after buying an additional 1,686,077 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of WillScot in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,500,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in WillScot during the second quarter worth about $24,082,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of WillScot by 10.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,110,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,339,000 after buying an additional 404,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.81% of the company’s stock.

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.