Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Up 1.2% - Time to Buy?

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) rose 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.24 and last traded at $45.56. Approximately 1,536,932 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 4,567,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.70.

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Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 2.0 %

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $50.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

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

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.