Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $54.88, but opened at $53.40. Smurfit Westrock shares last traded at $54.12, with a volume of 360,514 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SW shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a PE ratio of 297.66 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.99 and its 200-day moving average is $49.16.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.23). Smurfit Westrock had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $340,848,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.