WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK – Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $32.00. The company traded as low as $27.00 and last traded at $27.44, with a volume of 136797 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.53.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Argus cut WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on WestRock from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on WestRock from $39.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of WestRock during the 4th quarter worth $194,739,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,044,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,131,000 after buying an additional 1,342,765 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 9,946,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,251,000 after buying an additional 1,117,520 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,414,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $94,880,000 after buying an additional 1,005,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 122.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,769,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,484,000 after buying an additional 973,523 shares during the last quarter. 84.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WestRock Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.05). WestRock had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that WestRock will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.03%.

About WestRock

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WestRock Co engages in the provision of sustainable fiber-based paper and packaging solutions. It operates through the following segments: Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, Global Paper, and Distribution. The Corrugated Packaging segment consists of the sale of corrugated containers and other corrugated products including displays.