Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.70.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SW shares. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 7.5% in the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 14,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 7.4% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.0% in the first quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 392,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,692,000 after purchasing an additional 18,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 700,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,749,000 after purchasing an additional 426,723 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 4.0 %

SW opened at $41.02 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Smurfit Westrock has a 12 month low of $38.53 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.58 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Smurfit Westrock Company Profile

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.