WestRock (WRK) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

WestRock (NYSE:WRK – Get Rating) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, February 1st. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.60 per share for the quarter. Parties that wish to register for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 10th. The basic materials company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. WestRock had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 4.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect WestRock to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

WestRock Stock Performance

NYSE WRK opened at $36.51 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.03. WestRock has a twelve month low of $30.08 and a twelve month high of $54.78. The company has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

WestRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 10th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is an increase from WestRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 9th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Currey M. Russell sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.51, for a total value of $2,008,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 245,271 shares in the company, valued at $8,954,844.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRK. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in WestRock by 454.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 701,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,009,000 after purchasing an additional 575,259 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in WestRock by 53.0% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 795,637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,419,000 after purchasing an additional 275,574 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in WestRock by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,619,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,440,053,000 after purchasing an additional 252,490 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in WestRock by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,959,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,140,000 after purchasing an additional 179,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in WestRock by 117.2% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 186,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,789,000 after purchasing an additional 100,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet downgraded WestRock from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their price objective on WestRock from $57.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on WestRock from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 18th. Citigroup cut their price objective on WestRock from $39.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on WestRock from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.71.

WestRock Company Profile

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WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates in 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.