Strategic Global Advisors LLC Lowers Position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 57.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 111,662 shares during the period. Strategic Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in WestRock were worth $2,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRK. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in WestRock by 14.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 39,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 5,108 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 71,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after buying an additional 12,559 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of WestRock by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 208,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in WestRock by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRK. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of WestRock from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on WestRock from $42.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on WestRock from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on WestRock in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of WestRock from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WestRock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.78.

WestRock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRK traded up $1.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.21. 10,325,696 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,479,871. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.20. WestRock has a 52-week low of $26.84 and a 52-week high of $40.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of -6.36 and a beta of 1.21.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. WestRock had a negative net margin of 6.82% and a positive return on equity of 8.75%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 9th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is -19.86%.

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 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.