Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Receives $57.69 Average PT from Analysts

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.6923.

Several brokerages have commented on SW. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 194,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,002,000 after purchasing an additional 36,900 shares during the period. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter worth $243,400,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 212,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 21,388 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the first quarter worth $44,056,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter worth $3,446,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $42.27 on Monday. Smurfit Westrock has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $52.65. The company has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a PE ratio of 44.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.60% and a net margin of 1.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.05) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 192.55%.

About Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock plc (NYSE:SW) is a global provider of paper and corrugated packaging solutions. The company designs and manufactures products such as corrugated shipping containers, consumer packaging, folding cartons, paper bags, displays and other fiber-based packaging used across a range of industries.

The company also produces containerboard and other paper products that support its packaging operations, along with recycling and packaging-related services. Its customers include businesses in the food and beverage, consumer products, industrial, e-commerce and retail sectors.