CapWealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,615 Shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

CapWealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,615 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of WestRock worth $8,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in WestRock by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 25,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WestRock in the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of WestRock by 22.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,301,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $260,176,000 after buying an additional 970,199 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in WestRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in WestRock by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WRK. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Argus raised their target price on WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on WestRock in a report on Saturday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.75.

WestRock Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE WRK traded up $1.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.51. 11,862,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,304,467. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.10. WestRock has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.83.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. WestRock had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 1.57%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.68%.

Insider Activity at WestRock

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

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.