WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Price Target Raised to $51.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $46.00 to $51.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WRK. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of WestRock from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $44.50.

WestRock Stock Up 0.1 %

WRK stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.16. 2,966,287 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,905,955. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a PE ratio of 42.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. WestRock has a twelve month low of $26.85 and a twelve month high of $51.79.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 1.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. WestRock’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that WestRock will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. WestRock’s payout ratio is 101.68%.

Insider Transactions at WestRock

In related news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $149,695.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,117 shares in the company, valued at $3,939,844.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WestRock

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRK. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in WestRock by 28.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 99,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of WestRock by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 103,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,718,000 after purchasing an additional 7,139 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in WestRock by 2.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 125,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in WestRock by 36.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 107,031 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,832,000 after purchasing an additional 28,777 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.