Zacks Investment Research Upgrades Westrock Company (NYSE:WRK) to “Buy”

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Westrock Company (NYSE:WRK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday, July 14th. They currently have $67.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

According to Zacks, “WestRock expects third-quarter fiscal 2017 earnings to be sequentially higher, benefiting from seasonally higher volumes, favorable mix and productivity. The company’s productivity and performance improvement programs across its manufacturing footprint as well as its cost-saving actions, remain tailwinds. WestRock's acquisition of assets of Island Container and Combined Container and five corrugated converting facilities from U.S. Corrugated will help it capitalize on the growing corrugated packaging demand. WestRock also outperformed the Zacks sub industry in the past one year. The company has a positive record of earnings surprises in the last few quarters.”

WRK has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank AG increased their target price on shares of Westrock from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Citigroup Inc. reissued a buy rating on shares of Westrock in a research note on Friday, April 14th. KeyCorp reissued a hold rating on shares of Westrock in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) raised shares of Westrock from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays PLC raised their price objective on shares of Westrock from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $61.55.

Westrock (NYSE:WRK) traded up 1.31% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.33. 2,080,650 shares of the stock traded hands. The firm has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.74 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.82 and its 200 day moving average is $54.34. Westrock has a 12-month low of $40.63 and a 12-month high of $60.36.

Westrock (NYSE:WRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. Westrock had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 6.38%. Westrock’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Westrock will post $2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.56%.

In related news, Director John A. Luke, Jr. sold 10,343 shares of Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $614,684.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 497,557 shares in the company, valued at $29,569,812.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 31,029 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,094 in the last quarter. 2.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems purchased a new position in shares of Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $925,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $413,000. Searle & CO. bought a new stake in Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $235,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Westrock by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 258,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,118,000 after buying an additional 124,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Westrock by 2.9% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 215,896 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,233,000 after buying an additional 6,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.09% of the company’s stock.

About Westrock

WestRock Company, incorporated on March 6, 2015, is a multinational provider of paper and packaging solutions for consumer and corrugated packaging markets. The Company also develops real estate in the Charleston, South Carolina region. The Company’s segments include Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, and Land and Development.

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