Argus Increases WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Price Target to $57.00

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) had its target price upped by Argus from $50.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Argus currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on WRK. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They set a hold rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of WestRock from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.60.

WestRock Price Performance

WRK opened at $51.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.54, a PEG ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.11. WestRock has a twelve month low of $26.85 and a twelve month high of $52.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The company’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. WestRock’s payout ratio is presently 101.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WestRock

In other WestRock news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $149,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares in the company, valued at $3,939,844.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other WestRock news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $149,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares in the company, valued at $3,939,844.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total transaction of $499,162.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,856,721.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,165 shares of company stock worth $1,007,346 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRK. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WestRock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 268.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new stake in shares of WestRock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 198.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.