Contrasting LGN (NASDAQ:LGN) & WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC)

LGN (NASDAQ:LGN) and WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for LGN and WillScot, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LGN	1	1	10	2	2.93
WillScot	1	7	3	0	2.18

LGN currently has a consensus price target of $99.50, suggesting a potential upside of 87.84%. WillScot has a consensus price target of $26.50, suggesting a potential upside of 32.63%. Given LGN’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe LGN is more favorable than WillScot.

Profitability

This table compares LGN and WillScot’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LGN	-1.20%	4.33%	1.23%
WillScot	-3.00%	21.62%	3.39%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares LGN and WillScot”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LGN	$2.55 billion	2.24	-$59.78 million	$0.40	132.42
WillScot	$2.28 billion	1.59	-$52.99 million	($0.38)	-52.58

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.8% of WillScot shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of LGN shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of WillScot shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

LGN beats WillScot on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LGN

Legence Corp. is a provider of engineering, consulting, installation and maintenance services for mission-critical systems in buildings. The company specializes in designing, fabricating and installing complex HVAC, process piping and other mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Legence Corp. is based in SAN JOSE, Calif.

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. The company leases modular space and portable storage units to customers in the construction, commercial and industrial, retail and wholesale trade, energy and natural resources, education, government and institutions, and healthcare markets. The company offers its solutions primarily under the WillScot and Mobile Mini brand names. The company was formerly known as WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. and changed its name to WillScot Holdings Corporation in July 2024. WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.