M&G Investment Management Ltd. Sells 16,119 Shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

M&G Investment Management Ltd. lowered its position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,740 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,119 shares during the period. M&G Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.09% of WestRock worth $9,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 626 Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of WestRock by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 18,972 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of WestRock by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of WestRock by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of WestRock by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of WestRock by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total value of $499,162.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other WestRock news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total value of $499,162.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John L. O'neal sold 6,965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total transaction of $358,488.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,113,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WestRock Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WRK traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.88. 2,048,649 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,235,811. WestRock has a twelve month low of $26.85 and a twelve month high of $52.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $13.59 billion, a PE ratio of 44.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $48.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.70.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued 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 2.29%. WestRock's dividend payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of WestRock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of WestRock from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of WestRock from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $42.00 price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.60.

WestRock 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.