Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.70.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $42.61. 1,370,211 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,722,804. The business's fifty day moving average is $44.83 and its 200 day moving average is $49.79. Smurfit Westrock has a 52 week low of $37.01 and a 52 week high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a PE ratio of 77.49 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $171,026,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $100,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $134,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $1,681,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth $858,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently 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.