Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.70.

SW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 $6,136,877.48. This trade 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.

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Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 700,036 shares of the company's stock worth $37,749,000 after purchasing an additional 426,723 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 114,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,179,000 after acquiring an additional 22,430 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,973,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $72,812,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,473,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,350,000 after purchasing an additional 173,975 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

NYSE:SW traded up $1.47 on Monday, reaching $47.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,665,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,784,290. The company has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.62 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. Research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.