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WestRock (WRK) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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WestRock closed at $41.03 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.91% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.5%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.12%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.32%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the paper and packaging company had lost 17.18% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Basic Materials sector's loss of 26.33% and lagged the S&P 500's loss of 6.54% in that time.

WestRock will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 4, 2022. On that day, WestRock is projected to report earnings of $1.49 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 49%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.51 billion, up 14.41% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.09 per share and revenue of $21.4 billion, which would represent changes of +50.15% and +14.17%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for WestRock. 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.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.49% lower within the past month. WestRock is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, WestRock is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 7.91. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 7.91, so we one might conclude that WestRock is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.

It is also worth noting that WRK currently has a PEG ratio of 0.36. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Paper and Related Products was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.36 at yesterday's closing price.

The Paper and Related Products industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 19, which puts it in the top 8% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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