Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Westrock Coffee has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, impacting investor sentiment towards the stock.
• Stifel Nicolaus lowered its price target on the stock to $10.00, while other brokerages maintain a consensus price target of $10.60 with an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Insider trading activity showed that Director Joe T. Ford purchased 70,000 shares, increasing his ownership by 25.32%, indicating confidence in the company's prospects.

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Westrock Coffee from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westrock Coffee has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.60.

Westrock Coffee Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEST traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,176,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,881. Westrock Coffee has a twelve month low of $5.28 and a twelve month high of $9.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $635.03 million, a PE ratio of -7.14 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.69.

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $280.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.34 million. Westrock Coffee had a negative return on equity of 51.77% and a negative net margin of 9.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Westrock Coffee will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westrock Coffee

In related news, Director Joe T. Ford bought 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.44 per share, with a total value of $186,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 371,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,763,550.80. This represents a 7.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $782,400 over the last ninety days. 27.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westrock Coffee

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Westrock Coffee by 3.4% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 45,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Westrock Coffee by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Westrock Coffee by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Westrock Coffee by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 73,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Westrock Coffee by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.08% of the company's stock.

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.