Westrock Coffee Company (NASDAQ:WEST) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Westrock Coffee Company (NASDAQ:WEST) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from five analysts, with an average price target of $10.40 for the next 12 months.
• Insider transactions include Director Joe T. Ford purchasing 70,000 shares at an average cost of $7.47 per share, increasing his ownership by 25.32%.
• The company's stock has a market capitalization of $671.94 million and reported a negative EPS of ($0.22) for its latest quarterly earnings, missing analyst expectations.

Westrock Coffee Company (NASDAQ:WEST - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Buy" from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.40.

WEST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Westrock Coffee from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westrock Coffee from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joe T. Ford purchased 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.47 per share, with a total value of $522,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 346,445 shares in the company, valued at $2,587,944.15. The trade was a 25.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $782,400. 42.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westrock Coffee by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,653 shares of the company's stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westrock Coffee during the fourth quarter worth approximately $840,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Westrock Coffee during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Westrock Coffee during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westrock Coffee by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,812,993 shares of the company's stock worth $18,059,000 after purchasing an additional 199,939 shares during the period. 45.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westrock Coffee Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of Westrock Coffee stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, hitting $6.74. 188,833 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Westrock Coffee has a one year low of $5.28 and a one year high of $10.10. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $6.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $637.87 million, a PE ratio of -7.41 and a beta of 0.51.

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.05). Westrock Coffee had a negative net margin of 9.61% and a negative return on equity of 41.92%. The firm had revenue of $213.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.85 million. On average, research analysts expect that Westrock Coffee will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Westrock Coffee

Westrock Coffee Company, LLC operates as an integrated coffee, tea, flavors, extracts, and ingredients solutions provider in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Beverage Solutions, and Sustainable Sourcing & Traceability (SS&T). The Beverage Solutions segment provides various packaging, including branded and private label coffee in bags, fractional packs, and single serve cups, as well as extract solutions for applications in cold brew and ready-to-drink offerings.