Mather Group LLC. Has $76,000 Stake in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Mather Group LLC. decreased its position in WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 87.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,649 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in WestRock were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock during the 4th quarter valued at $198,063,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 297.7% during the 4th quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,065,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,264,000 after buying an additional 2,294,371 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,378,000. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WestRock during the 4th quarter valued at $55,228,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of WestRock by 140.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,173,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,826,000 after buying an additional 1,269,375 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of WestRock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of WestRock from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock in a report on Saturday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WestRock from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.80.

WestRock Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WRK opened at $50.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. WestRock has a 1 year low of $27.12 and a 1 year high of $54.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.36.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. WestRock had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Analysts expect that WestRock will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. WestRock’s dividend payout ratio is 101.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WestRock news, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total transaction of $358,488.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,113,471.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total transaction of $358,488.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,113,471.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total transaction of $499,162.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. 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.