Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

SW has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.90.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $47.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.93. The company has a market capitalization of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.68 and a beta of 1.02.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.41 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 161.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 140.98%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, Director Irial Finan acquired 15,180 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 54,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.