Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $7.45, but opened at $7.69. Westrock Coffee shares last traded at $7.56, with a volume of 45,789 shares trading hands.

Specifically, Director Joe T. Ford purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.44 per share, for a total transaction of $186,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 371,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,763,550.80. This represents a 7.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joe T. Ford purchased 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.47 per share, for a total transaction of $522,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 346,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,587,944.15. This trade represents a 25.32% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In other news, Director Joe T. Ford acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.35 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 276,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,031,870.75. The trade was a 3.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Westrock Coffee from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $10.40.

Westrock Coffee Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $738.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.12 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.64.

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.05). Westrock Coffee had a negative return on equity of 20.72% and a negative net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $213.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.85 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Westrock Coffee will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westrock Coffee

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Westrock Coffee by 198.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,784,000 after buying an additional 392,214 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Westrock Coffee by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,812,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,059,000 after buying an additional 199,939 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Westrock Coffee in the fourth quarter valued at $840,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Westrock Coffee in the first quarter valued at $680,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Westrock Coffee by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 236,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after buying an additional 83,647 shares during the last quarter. 45.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westrock Coffee Company Profile

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.