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

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

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WRK. Truist Financial increased their target price on WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut WestRock from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $43.00.

WestRock Stock Up 0.9 %

WRK opened at $47.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of -7.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. WestRock has a 52 week low of $26.85 and a 52 week high of $49.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.30.

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

Insider Transactions at WestRock

In other news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $149,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares in the company, valued at $3,939,844.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WestRock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of WestRock during the fourth quarter worth about $198,063,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in WestRock by 297.7% in 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 buying an additional 2,294,371 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in WestRock by 2.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,954,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,757,000 after buying an additional 74,185 shares during the period. Segantii Capital Management Ltd lifted its holdings in WestRock by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. Segantii Capital Management Ltd now owns 2,907,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,722,000 after buying an additional 1,247,561 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in WestRock by 11.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,696,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,549,000 after buying an additional 275,033 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.