Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $37.76 and last traded at $38.24, with a volume of 553468 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.62. The firm has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a PE ratio of 71.08 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 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. This is a positive change 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 presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.