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

Shares of Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $6.55, but opened at $6.83. Westrock Coffee shares last traded at $6.80, with a volume of 45,419 shares traded.

Specifically, COO William A. Ford bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.45 per share, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 476,190 shares in the company, valued at $3,071,425.50. This represents a 3.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on WEST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Westrock Coffee Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.78. The company has a market cap of $614.11 million, a P/E ratio of -7.58 and a beta of 0.59.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westrock Coffee

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 54.8% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 236,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 83,647 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 363.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 57,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 44,993 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 649,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,222,000 after purchasing an additional 12,937 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 391,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 195,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 43,731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.08% of the company’s stock.

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.