Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.70.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 7.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $54.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a PE ratio of 303.43 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.56. Smurfit Westrock has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.98%. On average, equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 672.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 202.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $626,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,462,000. Mariner LLC grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 28,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after acquiring an additional 7,828 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 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.