Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Trading Up 1.4% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $45.50 and last traded at $45.72. 687,925 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 4,544,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Argus assumed 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. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued 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.

Remove Ads

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 80.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $51.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.62.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (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, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm's 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. 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SW. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $5,955,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth about $426,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $957,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at about $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

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.