WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,135,777 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the previous session’s volume of 2,244,404 shares.The stock last traded at $51.16 and had previously closed at $51.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WRK shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Saturday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.80.

WestRock Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.76, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.56.

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 company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a $0.3025 dividend. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is 101.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 60,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,113,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paralel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 62,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,247,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 140.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,173,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,375 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WestRock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $495,000. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 116,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,173,000 after purchasing an additional 9,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 88,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.