Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.10.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Argus cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 8,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $53,969,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 22,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 116.9% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 241,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after buying an additional 129,905 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $39.75 on Monday. Smurfit Westrock has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $52.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 136.09%.

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.