Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.33 EPS

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Smurfit Westrock had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.98%.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock traded down $3.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.66. 2,510,456 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,131,636. Smurfit Westrock has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 275.90 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.63 and its 200 day moving average is $49.55.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 955.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SW. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial started coverage on 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 raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% 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.