Insider Selling: WestRock (NYSE:WRK) EVP Sells $499,162.00 in Stock

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

WestRock Price Performance

Shares of WRK opened at $51.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. WestRock has a twelve month low of $26.85 and a twelve month high of $52.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.16 and a 200-day moving average of $43.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WestRock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of WestRock in the third quarter valued at $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WestRock by 268.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new position in shares of WestRock in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of WestRock by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of WestRock in the first quarter valued at $44,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn cut WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of WestRock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on WestRock from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of WestRock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.60.

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.