Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 1.3% - Here's Why

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $45.15 and last traded at $44.79. 716,214 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,551,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 2.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.58 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.59.

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Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. 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 3.88%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 44,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % 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

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $957,000. Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $267,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $597,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $301,000. 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.