WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) in a research report released on Wednesday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus upped their target price on WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, WestRock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $51.75.

WestRock Price Performance

Shares of WRK opened at $51.51 on Wednesday. WestRock has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $54.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 43.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 1.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WestRock

In other WestRock news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total value of $499,162.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other WestRock news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total value of $499,162.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $358,488.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,113,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WestRock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in shares of WestRock by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of WestRock by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of WestRock by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of WestRock by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of WestRock by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,742,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.