Morgan Stanley Lowers Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Price Target to $60.00

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $60.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 39.83% from the company’s current price.

SW has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research raised Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.10.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW opened at $42.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.60. Smurfit Westrock has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 83.38% of the stock is 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.