WestRock Co (NYSE:WRK) announced that it has completed the acquisition of Cenveo Packaging

WestRock Co (NYSE:WRK) announced that it has completed the acquisition of Cenveo Packaging, a leading provider of value-add folded carton and litho-laminated display packaging solutions. Cenveo Packaging is a division of Cenveo, Inc. (CVO).

Through this transaction, WestRock has acquired seven facilities in North America with capabilities including MiraFoil ®, cold foil and low migration ink systems.

“Cenveo Packaging is an excellent addition to our folding carton and merchandising displays business,” said Craig Gunckel, executive vice president, Merchandising Displays and Folding Carton, Packaging Solutions, WestRock. “By combining WestRock paperboard with Cenveo’s packaging and printing capabilities, we expect to be able to further enhance the solutions that we are able to provide to our customers.”

The transaction is expected to generate significant synergies and be accretive to WestRock’s earnings immediately.

WestRock Equity Analysis

WestRock Co (NYSE:WRK) opened trading today as $32.51 and is trading in the range of 32.31-34.19 today. WestRock’s current market cap stands at $8.28 billion.

Compared to other peers in the Packaging & Containers sector, WestRock has outperformed in terms of quarterly revenue growth year over year at 0.49 vs. the industry average of 0.10. WestRock’s earnings per share is currently at 2.93, which surpasses the sector average of 0.90.

WestRock is currently covered by 18 Wall Street analysts. The mean target price is $70.56 according to First Call. This presents a solid upside to the current price of the equity. The Mean Recommendation sits at 1.9 which is based on 7 Strong Buy, 6 Buy and 4 Hold ratings.

The most recent analyst actions consisted of BofA/Merrill downgrading the stock on January 25th and Barclays initiating coverage with a downgrade rating back in January.

The current quarter EPS revenue estimates is 4.02B. WestRock reported actual earnings last quarter of 1.10 which beat the 1.03 consensus estimate, a 6.80% surprise.

Corporate Profile

WestRock Company manufactures and sells paper and packaging solutions for the consumer and corrugated markets in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The company operates through Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, Specialty Chemicals, and Land and Development segments. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers; and recycled fiber. This segment also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services, and automated packaging machines. Its corrugated packaging products are used to provide protective packaging for the shipment and distribution of food, paper, health and beauty, other household, consumer, commercial, and industrial products. The Consumer Packaging segment manufactures and sells folding and beverage cartons, displays, dispensing, and interior partitions; paperboards; recycled paperboards; express mail envelopes for the overnight courier industry; and secondary packages and paperboard packaging for the healthcare market.