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WestRock (WRK) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
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WestRock (WRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $40.38, moving +0.45% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.07% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.65%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.71%.
Heading into today, shares of the paper and packaging company had gained 0.02% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's gain of 4.53% and outpacing the S&P 500's loss of 0.58% in that time.
WRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 31, 2019. In that report, analysts expect WRK to post earnings of $0.81 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 6.9%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.58 billion, up 17.66% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.40 per share and revenue of $19.35 billion, which would represent changes of +7.58% and +18.8%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for WRK. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 3.78% lower. WRK currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that WRK has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.13 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 9.07.
We can also see that WRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.42. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Paper and Related Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.42 as of yesterday's close.
The Paper and Related Products industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 193, putting it in the bottom 25% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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WestRock (WRK) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
WestRock (WRK - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $40.38, moving +0.45% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.07% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.65%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.71%.
Heading into today, shares of the paper and packaging company had gained 0.02% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's gain of 4.53% and outpacing the S&P 500's loss of 0.58% in that time.
WRK will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 31, 2019. In that report, analysts expect WRK to post earnings of $0.81 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 6.9%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.58 billion, up 17.66% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.40 per share and revenue of $19.35 billion, which would represent changes of +7.58% and +18.8%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for WRK. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 3.78% lower. WRK currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that WRK has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.13 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 9.07.
We can also see that WRK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.42. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Paper and Related Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.42 as of yesterday's close.
The Paper and Related Products industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 193, putting it in the bottom 25% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.