South Dakota Investment Council Has $1.79 Million Stake in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK - Free Report) by 86.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,105 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 267,106 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in WestRock were worth $1,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in WestRock by 14.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in WestRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,584,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in WestRock by 70.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,825,189 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $65,342,000 after acquiring an additional 753,828 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in WestRock by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 600,682 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,940,000 after acquiring an additional 165,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in WestRock by 140.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,173,923 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $77,826,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

WestRock Stock Performance

WRK stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $46.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,275,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,704. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.10. WestRock has a one year low of $26.85 and a one year high of $49.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $47.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.20.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $4.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.79 billion. WestRock had a negative net margin of 8.58% and a positive return on equity of 6.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. WestRock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -18.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WRK. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut WestRock from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on WestRock in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of WestRock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.00.

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.