Swiss National Bank Reduces Stock Position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 4.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 768,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in WestRock were worth $37,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 626 Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 18,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of WestRock by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of WestRock by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRK shares. Argus increased 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. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

WestRock Stock Performance

NYSE WRK traded up $1.76 on Monday, reaching $51.51. 11,862,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,995. WestRock has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 43.29, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.30. 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 data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at WestRock

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

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.