Empower Advisory Group LLC Takes Position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Empower Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of WestRock by 14.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 39,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 5,108 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WestRock by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 71,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 12,559 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in WestRock by 5.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in WestRock by 0.9% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 208,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WestRock by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.51% of the company’s stock.

WestRock Stock Down 0.8 %

WRK stock opened at $36.53 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.59 and a beta of 1.21. WestRock has a fifty-two week low of $26.84 and a fifty-two week high of $39.30. 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 (NYSE:WRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. WestRock had a negative net margin of 6.82% and a positive return on equity of 8.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently -19.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on WestRock from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of WestRock from $42.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, June 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on WestRock from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on WestRock from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on WestRock in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WestRock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

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 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.