WestRock Co (NYSE:WRK) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Monday, The Fly reports.

In other WestRock news, insider James B. Porter sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $1,002,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 133,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,521.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James B. Porter sold 39,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.60, for a total transaction of $1,739,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 133,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,939,560.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. RBC Capital lowered their target price on WestRock from $66.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Citigroup Inc. decreased their price objective on WestRock from $73.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Credit Suisse decreased their price objective on WestRock from $74.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 19th. DA Davidson upgraded WestRock from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Group decreased their price objective on WestRock from $74.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.13.

A number of large investors recently modified their holdings of the company. Braun Stacey Associates bought a new stake in shares of WestRock during the third quarter valued at about $14,293,000. Gerstein Fisher acquired a new stake in WestRock during the third quarter worth $238,000. Capstone Asset Management Company increased its stake in WestRock by 160.3% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Asset Management Company now owns 41,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,902,000 after buying an additional 25,676 shares during the last quarter. Three Peaks Capital Management increased its stake in WestRock by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Three Peaks Capital Management now owns 100,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,590,000 after buying an additional 37,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust increased its stake in WestRock by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust now owns 9,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) opened at 37.74 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.32. WestRock has a 12-month low of $34.52 and a 12-month high of $66.40. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion and a PE ratio of 12.88.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.02. The business earned $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. WestRock’s revenue was up 48.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that WestRock will post $3.96 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Company, formerly Rome-Milan Holdings, Inc., is a packaging company. The Company provides paper and packaging solutions in consumer and corrugated markets. The Company includes customers across the world from around 275 operating and business locations spanning North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Company’s products and services include consumer packaging, corrugated packaging, merchandising displays, containerboard, kraft paper, pulp, paperboard, recycling and waste solutions, and specialty paperboard. The Company’s consumer packaging includes the manufacturing of folding cartons and production of coated paperboard and serves markets, such as printing and converting, solid bleached sulfate and coated recycled board. Its corrugated packaging is engaged in the manufacturing of containerboard, containers, pre-print and microflute packaging, retail displays and automated packaging systems. Rock-Tenn Company is a subsidiary of WestRock Co.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:WRK

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