Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

SW has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.73.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.2%

SW opened at $42.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 1.06. Smurfit Westrock has a 12 month low of $32.73 and a 12 month high of $52.65. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.31 and a 200 day moving average of $40.70.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.09%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. The trade was a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.