Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Truist Financial from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 516,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,825,861. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $37.01 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.78. The stock has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.82 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.