Westrock Coffee Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:WEST)

Westrock Coffee Company (NASDAQ:WEST) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 6,420 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 5,387% compared to the typical volume of 117 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westrock Coffee news, Director Joe T. Ford bought 5,000 shares of Westrock Coffee stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.30 per share, with a total value of $26,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 413,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,193,754.80. The trade was a 1.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 27.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westrock Coffee in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,146,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Westrock Coffee by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,950,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,304,000 after purchasing an additional 137,646 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Westrock Coffee by 1,019.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 116,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 106,051 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westrock Coffee in the third quarter worth approximately $463,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Westrock Coffee in the first quarter valued at approximately $680,000. 45.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westrock Coffee Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of Westrock Coffee stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.36. 314,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,069. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.94 million, a PE ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 0.47. Westrock Coffee has a 1-year low of $3.59 and a 1-year high of $8.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 37.87, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). Westrock Coffee had a negative net margin of 8.58% and a negative return on equity of 98.07%. The firm had revenue of $354.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $281.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Westrock Coffee will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Westrock Coffee from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Westrock Coffee from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Westrock Coffee Company Profile

Westrock Coffee Company, LLC operates as an integrated coffee, tea, flavors, extracts, and ingredients solutions provider in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Beverage Solutions, and Sustainable Sourcing & Traceability (SS&T). The Beverage Solutions segment provides various packaging, including branded and private label coffee in bags, fractional packs, and single serve cups, as well as extract solutions for applications in cold brew and ready-to-drink offerings.