WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on WRK. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Argus raised their price objective on shares of WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WestRock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $51.75.

WestRock Stock Performance

Shares of WRK stock traded up $1.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $51.51. 11,862,001 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,623,995. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.42 and its 200 day moving average is $48.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a P/E 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.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. The business 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%. WestRock’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in WestRock by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 22,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.