WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Hits New 12-Month High on Strong Earnings

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $51.23 and last traded at $51.08, with a volume of 583280 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.90.

The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.3025 dividend. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Activity at WestRock

In other WestRock news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,939,844.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock in the fourth quarter worth $198,063,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WestRock by 297.7% during the fourth quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,065,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,371 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock in the third quarter valued at about $61,378,000. Segantii Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock in the third quarter valued at about $59,428,000. Finally, KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in shares of WestRock in the fourth quarter worth about $55,228,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.73. The firm has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.99, a PEG ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

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.