Financial Survey: Star (NASDAQ:STHO) and WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC)

WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) and Star (NASDAQ:STHO) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for WillScot and Star, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WillScot	1	4	4	1	2.50
Star	1	0	0	0	1.00

WillScot presently has a consensus target price of $26.63, suggesting a potential upside of 36.75%. Given WillScot’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe WillScot is more favorable than Star.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.8% of WillScot shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.3% of Star shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of WillScot shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Star shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WillScot and Star”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WillScot	$2.32 billion	1.53	$28.13 million	$1.21	16.09
Star	$113.30 million	0.91	-$86.75 million	($11.08)	-0.73

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

Risk & Volatility

WillScot has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Star has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WillScot	9.64%	23.09%	3.93%
Star	-125.63%	-33.77%	-17.79%

Summary

WillScot beats Star on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Star

Star Holdings engages in the non-ground lease related commercial real estate businesses in the United States. Its portfolio primarily comprises interest in the Asbury Park Waterfront and Magnolia Green residential development projects. Star Holdings is based in New York, New York.