Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) Trading Up 7.2% – Still a Buy?

Westrock Coffee Company (NASDAQ:WEST)’s share price rose 7.2% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $5.94 and last traded at $5.8950. Approximately 340,404 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 336,165 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Westrock Coffee from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Westrock Coffee in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Westrock Coffee from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Westrock Coffee from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westrock Coffee has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.00.

Westrock Coffee Stock Up 8.5%

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 37.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $577.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.28 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.55 and a 200-day moving average of $4.46.

Westrock Coffee (NASDAQ:WEST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $339.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.40 million. Westrock Coffee had a negative return on equity of 233.53% and a negative net margin of 7.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Westrock Coffee Company will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joe T. Ford bought 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.60 per share, for a total transaction of $253,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 533,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,456,013.60. The trade was a 11.48% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 27.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 10.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 10.1% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 31,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 79.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Westrock Coffee by 8.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 49,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 3,723 shares during the period. 45.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Westrock Coffee

Westrock Coffee Company is a global integrated coffee roaster and manufacturer that delivers end-to-end solutions across the coffee and tea supply chain. The company sources, roasts, blends, packages and distributes a diverse range of products, including hot and cold brew coffee, single-serve pods, instant and soluble coffee, tea, and specialty coffee extracts. Serving retail, convenience, foodservice and industrial customers, Westrock Coffee offers both private-label and co-packed branded products to meet the needs of supermarkets, quick-service restaurants, office coffee services and other channels.

Since its founding in 2008, Westrock Coffee has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish manufacturing facilities across North America, Latin America and Europe.