WestRock WRK Confirms Merger With Smurfit Kappa, Shares Gain September 12, 2023

60.0% of employees surveyed would recommend working at WestRock to a friend. Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's guide to pot stock investing and which pot companies show the most promise. Sign-up to receive the latest news and ratings for WestRock and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. WestRock, Smurfit Kappa are in talks to create a company with combined value of roughly $20 billion. Tony Smurfit, CEO of packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, discusses the company's announcement that they will merge with U.S. peer Westrock.

Nevertheless, increasing packaging requirements due to a rising trend in e-commerce activities and steady demand from consumer-oriented end markets, such as food and beverages, and healthcare, are envisioned to support the industry. Per the agreement, WestRock shareholders will receive one Smurfit WestRock share and $5 cash. This is equivalent to $43.51 per share, the closing share price of Smurfit Kappa’s shares on Sep 11, 2023. SMFKY will own approximately 50.4% in Smurfit WestRock and the balance 49.6% will be held by WRK.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWKN’s fiscal 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.40 per share, up 38% in the past 60 days. Current-year earnings estimate for Carpenter Technology is pegged at $3.48 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 205%. CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the last four quarters, the average surprise being 10%. Smurfit WestRock will have an unmatched geographic reach spanning 42 countries. WestRock’s shares have jumped 7.2% in pre-market trading on the news.

The companies are working on boosting their capacity to capitalize on this packaging demand. You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security.

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A day earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that China was moving to prohibit iPhone usage and other foreign-branded devices in government agencies. Recent stocks from this report have soared up to +178.7% in 3 months - this month's picks could be even better. The growing preference for paper as a sustainable and eco-friendly packaging option due to environmental concerns will act as a key driver for this industry going forward.

The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "hold" WRK shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in WRK, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares. WestRock is in merger talks with Ireland’s Smurfit Kappa that could potentially create a paper and packaging company worth about $20 billion. Total consideration to WestRock stockholders is equivalent to $43.51 per WestRock Share, based on the closing share price of Smurfit Kappa ordinary shares on September 11, 2023. Hawkins has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.5%.

Zacks Ranks stocks can, and often do, change throughout the month. Certain Zacks Rank stocks for which no month-end price was available, pricing information was not collected, or for certain other reasons have been excluded from these return calculations. Verint Systems — The analytics company lost 16.2% in premarket trading after Verint's second-quarter earnings and revenue fell short of expectations. Verint posted adjusted earnings of 48 cents per share, while analysts polled by FactSet forecast 57 cents per share. Revenue came in at $210.2 million, falling short of the estimated $57.4 million.

WestRock and Smurfit Kappa’s combined last twelve months’ revenues and adjusted EBITDA were around $34 billion and $5.5 billion, respectively (as of 30 Jun, 2023). The combination will lead to improved operating efficiency and increased returns across more than 500 converting operations and 67 mills. It is projected to result in annual pre-tax run-rate cost synergies of more than $400 million in the first year following its completion. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises.

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You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Smurfit Kappa shareholders and WestRock stockholders are expected to own approximately 50.4% and 49.6% of Smurfit WestRock, respectively. Style is an investment factor that has a meaningful impact on investment risk and returns. Style is calculated by combining value and growth scores, which are first individually calculated.

Morningstar analysts hand-select direct competitors or comparable companies to
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competitive advantage. The business is profitable, investing in the future, and pays a healthy annual dividend yielding 5%. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services. The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success.

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Since 1988 it has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +24.32% per year. These returns cover a period from January 1, 1988 through July 31, 2023. Zacks Rank stock-rating system returns are computed monthly based on the beginning of the month and end of the month Zacks Rank stock prices plus any dividends received during that particular month. A simple, equally-weighted average return of all Zacks Rank stocks is calculated to determine the monthly return. The monthly returns are then compounded to arrive at the annual return. Only Zacks Rank stocks included in Zacks hypothetical portfolios at the beginning of each month are included in the return calculations.

Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Hawkins, Inc. Smurfit WestRock would be incorporated and domiciled in Ireland with global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and North and South American operations headquartered in Atlanta, GA. It will seek a New York listing with a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange. These two industry leaders pay handsome dividends and aren't getting enough respect from the market, which puts them in play for income investors and value investors alike. Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity.

One share of WRK stock can currently be purchased for approximately $36.82. 370 employees have rated WestRock Chief Executive Officer Steve Voorhees on Glassdoor.com. Steve Voorhees has an approval rating of 74% among the company's employees.

Roku — The streaming stock was 1% lower in early morning trading after Loop Capital downgraded the company to hold from buy. The move comes after Roku jumped more than 12% Wednesday after announcing plans to lay off 10% of its staff, as well as consolidate office space and review its content slate to trim expenses. Roku had also lifted its third-quarter revenue guidance, saying it now expects revenue to range between $835 million and $875 million, versus prior guidance of $815 million. Both WRK and SMFKY are major players in the Paper and Related Products industry. Recently, the industry has been impacted by weak packaging demand, as customer spending has been muted due to inflationary pressures.

Common stockholders of WestRock will receive a share of the new company plus $5 in cash for each share they own, adding up to $43.5 per share based on yesterday's closing price of Smurfit Kappa ordinary shares. Smurfit Kappa investors will receive one share of the new company for each share they own. WRK, -15.57% tumbled 16.0% toward a more than 3-month low, enough to pace the S&P 500's SPX, +0.79% decliners, after the paper and packaging company reported fiscal first-quarte... Packaging company WestRock's (WRK) shares soared by almost 7% in pre-market trading on Tuesday after a merger announcement with Dublin-based Smurfit Kappa to create the world's largest listed paper an...

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In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Data are provided 'as is' for informational purposes only and are not intended for trading purposes. Data may be intentionally delayed pursuant to supplier requirements.

Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Under the terms of the agreement, for each share of common stock, stockholders will receive one new Smurfit WestRock share and $5.00 in cash. Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Morningstar Index (Market Barometer) quotes are real-time.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop https://1investing.in/ terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. According to 11 analysts, the average rating for WRK stock is "Buy." The 12-month stock price forecast is $35.9, which is a decrease of -2.50% from the latest price.

ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities. The business software giant reported revenue that fell short of forecasts. It seems like a good deal, as it presents a 28% premium over WestRock's closing price yesterday and far exceeds the expected deal premium of 15% to 20%. Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS Quick QuoteCRS - Free Report) and Hawkins, Inc. (HWKN Quick QuoteHWKN - Free Report) .

• These returns cover a period from January 1, 1988 through July 31, 2023.
• The companies are working on boosting their capacity to capitalize on this packaging demand.
• This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases.

On average, they expect the company's share price to reach $35.78 in the next twelve months. View analysts price targets for WRK or view top-rated stocks among Wall Street analysts. Dave & Buster's — Shares of the entertainment and dining company fell more than 3% after it reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The company generated 60 cents per share in profit on $542 million of revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, were expecting 93 cents per share on $559 million of revenue.

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Transparency is how we protect the integrity of our work and keep empowering investors to achieve their goals and dreams. And we have unwavering standards for how we keep that integrity intact, from our research and data to our policies on content and your personal data. WRK’s beta can be found in Trading Information at the top of this page. A stock’s beta measures how closely tied its price movements have been to the performance of the overall market.

• Zacks Rank stock-rating system returns are computed monthly based on the beginning of the month and end of the month Zacks Rank stock prices plus any dividends received during that particular month.
• There are currently 1 sell rating, 5 hold ratings and 3 buy ratings for the stock.
• This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%.
• It operates in four segments, Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, Global Paper, and Distribution.
• The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season.
• However, the deal offered a 28% premium to WestRock's closing price yesterday, leading to a jump in its stock price.

High-growth stocks tend to represent the technology, healthcare, and communications sectors. They rarely distribute dividends to shareholders, opting for reinvestment in their businesses. More value-oriented stocks tend to represent financial services, utilities, and energy stocks.

Our experts picked 7 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buy stocks with the best chance to skyrocket within the next days. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2024. After completing the combination, Smurfit WestRock's ordinary shares will be listed on the NYSE. Smurfit WestRock will be incorporated and domiciled in Ireland with global golden handshake scheme headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and its North and South American operations will be headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Together, both the companies generated combined last twelve months' adjusted annual revenue of approximately $34 billion as of June 30, 2023. We’d like to share more about how we work and what drives our day-to-day business.

The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share on Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%.