Insider Selling: WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Insider Sells 6,965 Shares of Stock

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $358,488.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 60,491 shares in the company, valued at $3,113,471.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

WestRock Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WestRock stock opened at $51.62 on Wednesday. WestRock has a 1-year low of $26.85 and a 1-year high of $52.07. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 1.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.3025 dividend. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRK. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in WestRock by 14.2% during 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 acquired a new position in WestRock during the fourth quarter worth $4,584,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake 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 worth $65,342,000 after purchasing an additional 753,828 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in WestRock by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 600,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,940,000 after purchasing an additional 165,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in WestRock by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 111,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,648,000 after purchasing an additional 43,910 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WRK shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on WestRock from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on WestRock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Argus lifted their price objective on WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WestRock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.60.

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.