Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $40.27, but opened at $39.20. Smurfit Westrock shares last traded at $39.40, with a volume of 511,951 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SW shares. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. 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 research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.00.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 74.13 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $47.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company's stock worth $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 9,581 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,039,818 shares of the company's stock worth $272,049,000 after acquiring an additional 500,699 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $936,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $221,026,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.