Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Barclays from $56.00 to $54.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 37.32% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on SW. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.73.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.0%

SW stock opened at $39.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $52.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.82. The firm has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 83.38% of the stock is 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.