Insider Selling: WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Insider Sells 6,965 Shares of Stock

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

WestRock Price Performance

WestRock stock opened at $51.81 on Thursday. WestRock has a 12-month low of $26.85 and a 12-month high of $52.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10.

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, 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 business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WestRock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRK. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of WestRock by 14.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in WestRock in the 4th quarter worth about $4,584,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of WestRock by 70.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,825,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,342,000 after acquiring an additional 753,828 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 600,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,940,000 after acquiring an additional 165,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 111,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,648,000 after purchasing an additional 43,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on WestRock from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WestRock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.60.

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.