WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 597,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,209 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in WestRock were worth $24,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WRK. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,108 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 21.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 71,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after buying an additional 12,559 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 5.1% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 0.9% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 208,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,379,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 0.6% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WestRock news, insider Vicki L. Lostetter sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.77, for a total transaction of $149,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,939,844.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WRK shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on WestRock from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered WestRock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com started coverage on WestRock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of WestRock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of WestRock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WestRock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.00.

WestRock Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WRK opened at $47.99 on Monday. WestRock has a 1-year low of $26.85 and a 1-year high of $49.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.99.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.15). WestRock had a positive return on equity of 6.87% and a negative net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that WestRock will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. WestRock’s payout ratio is presently -18.01%.

About WestRock

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.