Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Raises Stock Holdings in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 59.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in WestRock were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of WestRock by 14.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in WestRock in the 4th quarter worth $4,584,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in WestRock by 70.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,825,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,342,000 after acquiring an additional 753,828 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of WestRock by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 600,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,940,000 after acquiring an additional 165,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 140.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,173,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,826,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,375 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WRK. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WestRock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 $3,939,844.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WRK opened at $47.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.23. WestRock has a 12 month low of $26.85 and a 12 month high of $49.67. The company has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.03, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.10.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.15). WestRock had a positive return on equity of 6.87% and a negative net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

About WestRock

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.