Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $30.71 Million Stake in WestRock (NYSE:WRK)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK) by 296.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 621,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 464,534 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.24% of WestRock worth $30,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank grew its position in WestRock by 0.7% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in WestRock by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in WestRock by 3.7% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in WestRock by 0.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,742,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in WestRock by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 4,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WestRock Stock Performance

Shares of WRK stock traded up $1.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.51. 11,862,001 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,995. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a P/E 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.89. WestRock has a 52 week low of $27.86 and a 52 week high of $54.83.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WestRock will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,856,721.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider John L. O’neal sold 6,965 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 60,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,113,471.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Denise R. Singleton sold 9,700 shares of WestRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.46, for a total transaction of $499,162.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,856,721.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

About WestRock

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.