StockNews.com Begins Coverage on WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

WRK has been the subject of several other research reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of WestRock from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $44.50.

WestRock Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WRK stock opened at $51.16 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.73 and a 200-day moving average of $42.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. WestRock has a 12-month low of $26.85 and a 12-month high of $51.79. The firm has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.99, a PEG ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. WestRock’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.3025 dividend. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s payout ratio is 101.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WestRock

In other WestRock news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total value of $149,695.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,939,844.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in WestRock in the fourth quarter worth $198,063,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in WestRock by 297.7% during the fourth quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,065,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $127,264,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,371 shares during the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of WestRock in the 3rd quarter worth about $61,378,000. Segantii Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of WestRock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,428,000. Finally, KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in shares of WestRock during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,228,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.