Cerity Partners LLC Has $772,000 Stock Holdings in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,482 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in WestRock were worth $772,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 626 Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 18,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 99,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of WestRock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WestRock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

WestRock Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WRK opened at $48.07 on Tuesday. WestRock has a 12 month low of $26.85 and a 12 month high of $49.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.10.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.15). WestRock had a positive return on equity of 6.87% and a negative net margin of 8.58%. The company had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently -18.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total value of $149,695.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% 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.