WestRock (NYSE:WRK) Shares Purchased by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,189 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in WestRock were worth $10,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in WestRock by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,155,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,540,662,000 after purchasing an additional 103,667 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 970,199 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $198,063,000. Segantii Capital Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. Segantii Capital Management Ltd now owns 2,907,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,561 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WestRock by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,632,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,305,000 after acquiring an additional 80,098 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WestRock Price Performance

NYSE:WRK traded up $1.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,862,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,623,995. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.71. The company has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 43.29, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.34. WestRock has a 52-week low of $27.86 and a 52-week high of $54.83.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a $0.3025 dividend. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WRK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on WestRock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total value of $499,162.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 74,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,856,721.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $358,488.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,113,471.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.