WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Given New $51.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

WestRock (NYSE:WRK - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Truist Financial from $42.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WRK. Argus increased their target price on WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on WestRock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded WestRock from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $47.60.

WestRock Stock Performance

WestRock stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.62. The stock had a trading volume of 3,719,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,158,654. WestRock has a 1 year low of $26.85 and a 1 year high of $52.07. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $48.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.04. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 1.57%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. WestRock's revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. WestRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 101.68%.

Insider Activity at WestRock

In related news, insider John L. O'neal sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $358,488.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,113,471.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total transaction of $499,162.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John L. O'neal sold 6,965 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $358,488.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,491 shares in the company, valued at $3,113,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,165 shares of company stock valued at $1,007,346 over the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 626 Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of WestRock by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 18,972 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of WestRock by 2.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in WestRock by 0.7% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in WestRock by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in WestRock by 3.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is 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.