5,562 Shares in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 626 Financial LLC boosted its position in WestRock by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 18,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in WestRock by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in WestRock by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in WestRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 114,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,109,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in WestRock by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Price Performance

Shares of WRK opened at $50.71 on Friday. WestRock has a twelve month low of $27.12 and a twelve month high of $54.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.08. 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. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. WestRock’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Saturday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WestRock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total transaction of $499,162.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other WestRock news, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of WestRock 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total transaction of $499,162.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,856,721.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WestRock 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.