Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 4,331 Shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,331 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in WestRock were worth $2,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in WestRock by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 88,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,666,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in WestRock by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 17,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in WestRock by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 8,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in WestRock by 772.9% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 550,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,872,000 after purchasing an additional 487,754 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in WestRock by 237.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 50,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 35,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of WestRock in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

WestRock Stock Performance

WRK opened at $51.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.77. WestRock has a 1 year low of $26.85 and a 1 year high of $51.79. The stock has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total value of $149,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,939,844.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is 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.