Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Coverage Initiated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock traded up $2.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.98. 3,979,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,774,553. 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 stock has a market cap of $28.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 305.48 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $53.58. Smurfit Westrock has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 672.26%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $340,848,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.