WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Receives $51.75 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

WRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on WestRock in a research report on Saturday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in WestRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $198,063,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WestRock by 297.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new stake in WestRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,228,000. Segantii Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in WestRock by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. Segantii Capital Management Ltd now owns 2,907,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in WestRock by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,301,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $260,176,000 after purchasing an additional 970,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE WRK opened at $51.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. WestRock has a 52 week low of $27.86 and a 52 week high of $54.83.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. WestRock’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that WestRock will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a $0.3025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. WestRock’s payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

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.