Wahed Invest LLC Boosts Holdings in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the quarter. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in WestRock were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in WestRock by 268.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in WestRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in WestRock by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in WestRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in WestRock by 82.0% in the first quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Argus raised their price objective on shares of WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.75.

WestRock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRK traded up $1.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.51. 11,862,001 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,995. The company has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. WestRock has a 1 year low of $27.86 and a 1 year high of $54.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WestRock will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.