Comparing WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) and Maui Land & Pineapple (NYSE:MLP)

Maui Land & Pineapple (NYSE:MLP) and WillScot (NASDAQ:WSC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Maui Land & Pineapple and WillScot, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Maui Land & Pineapple	1	0	0	0	1.00
WillScot	1	7	3	0	2.18

WillScot has a consensus target price of $26.25, suggesting a potential downside of 2.20%. Given WillScot’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WillScot is more favorable than Maui Land & Pineapple.

Risk and Volatility

Maui Land & Pineapple has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WillScot has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Maui Land & Pineapple and WillScot’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Maui Land & Pineapple	-23.44%	-12.78%	-8.53%
WillScot	-2.99%	20.65%	3.31%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Maui Land & Pineapple and WillScot”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Maui Land & Pineapple	$19.46 million	16.72	-$10.58 million	($0.20)	-81.90
WillScot	$2.28 billion	2.13	-$52.99 million	($0.38)	-70.63

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.5% of Maui Land & Pineapple shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.8% of WillScot shares are held by institutional investors. 68.6% of Maui Land & Pineapple shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of WillScot shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

WillScot beats Maui Land & Pineapple on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Maui Land & Pineapple

Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Inc. is a landholding and operating company, which engages in the development, sale, and management of real estate. It operates through the following segments: Real Estate, Leasing, and Resort Amenities. The Real Estate segment includes land planning and entitlement, development, and sales activities. The Leasing segment consists of residential, resort, commercial, agricultural and industrial land and property leases, licensing of registered trademarks and trade names, and stewardship and conservation efforts. The Resort Amenities segment manages a full-service spa, a beach club, and a private club membership program. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Maui, HI.

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.