WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered WestRock from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $44.50.

WestRock Stock Performance

WestRock stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $51.16. 2,966,287 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,905,955. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.73. WestRock has a 52 week low of $26.85 and a 52 week high of $51.79. The firm has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.34.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that WestRock will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WestRock

In related news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $149,695.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,939,844.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in WestRock during the fourth quarter valued at $198,063,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WestRock by 297.7% during the 4th quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,065,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,264,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,371 shares in the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in WestRock during the third quarter worth approximately $61,378,000. Segantii Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in WestRock in the third quarter worth approximately $59,428,000. Finally, KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new position in WestRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Company Profile

WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, Global Paper, and Distribution. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers.