URI vs SMID vs WSC Stock Comparison

United Rentals, Smith Midland and WillScot Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,162.88 +11.1% 1M +29.2% 1Y
Market cap
$72.97B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
–
Equipment Rental Industrials
7 wins
SMID Smith Midland Corp
$21.26 -12.4% 1M -45.6% 1Y
Market cap
$113.17M
P/E
14.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$89.50M
Div. yield
–
Building Products Industrials
3 wins
WSC WillScot Holdings Corp
$17.65 -2.9% 1M -22.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.24B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.29B
Div. yield
–
Equipment Rental Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

United Rentals leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (United Rentals 7, Smith Midland 3, WillScot Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionURISMIDWSCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $72.97B $113.17M $3.24B URI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.5x 14.6x -47.0x SMID
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.0x — 15.2x WSC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.4% -1.6% -2.5% URI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.3% 8.6% -3.0% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.0% 12.8% — URI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x -0.5x 8.5x SMID
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +29.2% -45.6% -22.5% URI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.0%/yr +2.8%/yr -12.4%/yr URI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.3% 51.0% 51.8% URI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 80/100 37/100 SMID

Percentile Scorecard

URISMIDWSC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisURISMIDWSC
Valuation 20 #37 of 46 84 #10 of 56 60 #19 of 46
Growth 92 #4 of 39 80 #11 of 52 16 #33 of 39
Profitability 95 #3 of 39 65 #18 of 49 45 #22 of 39
Financial Health 20 #38 of 47 93 #5 of 56 2 #46 of 47
Shareholder Returns 52 #16 of 32 – 65 #12 of 32
Overall 56 80 37
  • URI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • SMID ranked among 60 companies in Construction Products
  • WSC ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodURISMIDWSCSPY
1 month +11.1%-12.4%-2.9% -0.2%
3 months +6.6%-27.4%-31.4% +3.9%
6 months +20.8%-36.2%-22.9% +8.2%
Year to date +43.7%-41.5%-6.3% +12.9%
1 year +29.2%-45.6%-22.5% +12.3%
3 years +191.4%+9.8%-54.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +42.9%+3.2%-22.8% +23.3%
5 years +216.7%+14.9%-48.5% +67.9%
5 years, per year +26.0%+2.8%-12.4% +10.9%
10 years +1,424.7%+482.5%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +31.3%+19.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureURISMIDWSCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.3%51.0%51.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.1%51.4%47.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.040.981.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.69-0.90-0.43 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.0%-72.4%-71.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.2%-46.6%-39.3% -1.2%
52-week high $1,165.29$39.82$29.07 $779.14
52-week low $710.47$21.20$14.98 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleURISMIDWSC
P/E now vs peer median 25.3xmedian 25.3x 14.6xmedian 20.1x -46.4xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 1.0x 1.3xmedian 1.5x 1.4xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.7xmedian 13.4x 7.4xmedian 11.8x 16.2xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 80.8xmedian 21.9x 27.1xmedian 16.2x 10.7xmedian 21.9x
P/B now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 2.6x 2.0xmedian 2.9x 3.5xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median 2.66median 2.38 0.11median 0.99 1.59median 2.38

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsURISMIDWSC
Revenue $17.50B $89.50M $2.29B
Gross profit $6.84B $21.00M $1.16B
Operating income $4.47B $10.80M $149.28M
Net income $2.86B $7.73M -$68.89M
Free cash flow $892.00M $4.17M $297.75M
EPS (diluted) $45.89 $1.46 $-0.38
Cash & equivalents $153.00M $10.66M $18.17M
Total debt $14.67B $17.45M $3.50B
Shares (diluted) 62.26M 5.31M 181.81M
Enterprise value $72.09B $64.03M $3.17B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricURISMIDWSC
P/E 25.3x 14.6x -46.4x
P/FCF 80.8x 27.1x 10.7x
P/Operating cash flow 11.6x 7.8x 4.5x
P/S 4.1x 1.3x 1.4x
P/B 7.4x 2.0x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 7.8x 3.5x 4.5x
EV/EBITDA 13.7x 7.4x 16.2x
EV/EBIT 19.4x 9.8x 44.7x
EV/Revenue 5.0x 1.2x 2.9x
EV/FCF 97.1x 25.5x 22.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.0x 7.3x 9.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.66 0.11 1.59

Growth

14 metrics
MetricURISMIDWSC
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.4% -1.6% -2.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 18.4% -0.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.4% -18.4% -7.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.0% 35.0% -3.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.5% -30.8% -61.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 134.1% -38.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 12.9% -49.1% -162.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 136.0% -28.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 16.6% -35.9% -163.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 135.4% -29.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 24.2% 92.5% 19.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 97.2% -2.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 98.2% 459.8% 9.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 83.7% 38.5% -9.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricURISMIDWSC
Gross margin 39.1% 23.5% 50.5%
EBITDA margin 36.1% 16.1% 17.9%
Operating margin 25.5% 12.1% 6.5%
Pretax margin 21.8% 12.0% -3.4%
Net margin 16.3% 8.6% -3.0%
FCF margin 5.1% 4.7% 13.0%
Operating cash flow margin 35.4% 16.3% 30.7%
Return on equity 30.2% 13.7% -4.1%
Return on assets 8.9% 8.6% -0.6%
Return on invested capital 14.0% 12.8% –
Return on capital employed 16.5% 13.8% 2.9%
Asset turnover 0.5x 1.0x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 1.9x -10.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.1% 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricURISMIDWSC
Debt / assets 44.7% 4.8% 59.6%
Debt / equity 1.5x 0.1x 3.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x -0.5x 8.5x
Debt / FCF 16.4x 1.0x 11.7x
Liabilities / assets 70.4% 34.2% 84.5%
Equity / assets 29.6% 65.8% 15.5%
Interest coverage – 48.9x –
Current ratio 0.8x 4.1x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.1x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.9x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 3.57 5.00 0.66

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricURISMIDWSC
Dividend yield 0.7% – 1.6%
Net buyback yield 2.5% – 1.0%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 0.0% 2.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusURISMIDWSC
Forward P/E 21.0xFY2026 – 15.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $55.27FY2026 – $1.16FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +31.4%FY2026 – -3.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.3% – +4.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.69BFY2026 – $2.18BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.1%FY2026 – -4.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.1% – +15.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersURISMIDWSC
Held by institutions 95.9% 57.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,587 56 371
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.7% -1.1% -0.8%
Institutions buying 804 23 200
Institutions selling 537 17 129
Buyers to sellers 1.50 1.35 1.55

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

URISMIDWSC
URI 1.00 0.19 0.46
SMID 0.19 1.00 0.25
WSC 0.46 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, URI, SMID and WSC?

United Rentals (URI) is the largest by market capitalisation: United Rentals (URI) $72.97B, Smith Midland (SMID) $113.17M, WillScot Holdings (WSC) $3.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, URI, SMID and WSC?

Smith Midland (SMID) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (United Rentals (URI) 25.5x, Smith Midland (SMID) 14.6x, WillScot Holdings (WSC) -47.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, WillScot Holdings (WSC) is cheapest (United Rentals (URI) 21.0x, WillScot Holdings (WSC) 15.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

United Rentals (URI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: United Rentals (URI) +9.4%, Smith Midland (SMID) -1.6%, WillScot Holdings (WSC) -2.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (United Rentals (URI) 16.3%, Smith Midland (SMID) 8.6%, WillScot Holdings (WSC) -3.0%). On return on invested capital, United Rentals (URI) leads (United Rentals (URI) 14.0%, Smith Midland (SMID) 12.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Rentals (URI) returned the most: United Rentals (URI) +29.2%, Smith Midland (SMID) -45.6%, WillScot Holdings (WSC) -22.5%. Over five years, United Rentals (URI) compounded fastest (United Rentals (URI) +26.0%/yr, Smith Midland (SMID) +2.8%/yr, WillScot Holdings (WSC) -12.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, United Rentals (URI) has been the steadiest (United Rentals (URI) 42.3%, Smith Midland (SMID) 51.0%, WillScot Holdings (WSC) 51.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, URI, SMID and WSC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, United Rentals (URI) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.