WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Citigroup

WestRock (NYSE:WRK – Get Rating) was downgraded by Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of WestRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of WestRock from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of WestRock from $66.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 26th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of WestRock from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WestRock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Shares of WRK opened at $41.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.96. WestRock has a 1-year low of $40.30 and a 1-year high of $54.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.38.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 9.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 5th that permits the company to repurchase 25,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

In other WestRock news, insider Thomas Stigers sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.10, for a total value of $751,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,410,503.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRK. Greenhaven Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WestRock during the 1st quarter worth about $337,501,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of WestRock during the 4th quarter worth about $262,710,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in WestRock by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,557,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $290,901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647,538 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in WestRock by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 22,390,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,053,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in WestRock in the 1st quarter valued at about $62,641,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.42% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 two segments, Corrugated Packaging and Consumer Packaging. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers.

Featured Stories

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on WestRock (WRK)
• Quest Diagnostic Stock is Ready to Move Higher
• Cracks Form In Adobe’s Growth Outlook
• Chewy Stock is Not All Bark and No Bite
• MarketBeat Podcast: How To Navigate The Market Downturn Like A Pro
• PEG Ratio Pegs These 3 Stocks as Long-Term Buys

Want More Great Investing Ideas?