Toronto Dominion Bank Reduces Stock Position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its stake in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,388 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in WestRock were worth $3,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WestRock during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Gyon Technologies Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in WestRock during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Cornerstone Management Inc. grew its holdings in WestRock by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Management Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in WestRock by 203.8% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its holdings in WestRock by 800.0% in the 1st quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 1,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WestRock from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on WestRock in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on WestRock from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on WestRock from $42.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on WestRock from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.78.

WestRock Stock Performance

WestRock stock opened at $32.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of -5.93 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.49. WestRock has a one year low of $26.84 and a one year high of $41.77.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. WestRock had a positive return on equity of 8.75% and a negative net margin of 6.82%. WestRock’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WestRock will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 9th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -19.86%.

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 in 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.