Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on SW shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SW opened at $54.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.27 billion, a PE ratio of 301.96 and a beta of 1.04. Smurfit Westrock has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.3025 dividend. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 672.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,026,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,716,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $36,861,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $198,258,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

About Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock Plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and sells containerboard, corrugated containers, and other paper-based packaging products in Ireland and internationally. The company produces containerboard that it converts into corrugated containers or sells to third parties, as well as produces other types of paper, such as consumer packaging board, sack paper, graphic paper, solid board and graphic board, and other paper-based packaging products, such as consumer packaging, solid board packaging, paper sacks, and other packaging products, including bag-in-box.