Truist Financial Boosts WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Price Target to $57.00

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) had its price target lifted by Truist Financial from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Argus boosted their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of WestRock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.80.

WestRock Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WRK opened at $53.64 on Thursday. WestRock has a 52-week low of $27.12 and a 52-week high of $54.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.20 and a 200 day moving average of $45.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a PE ratio of 45.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.34.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its earnings results 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 company 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 business 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, research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.68%.

Insider Activity at WestRock

In related 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 transaction of $499,162.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 available through this link. In other WestRock news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,113,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRK. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WestRock by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,796,000 after buying an additional 7,658 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in WestRock in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in WestRock by 5.0% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 68,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in WestRock by 0.5% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in WestRock by 39.4% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 10,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.