Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $45.50 and last traded at $45.72. Approximately 687,925 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 4,544,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SW has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.34 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SW. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 114,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,179,000 after buying an additional 22,430 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,973,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,812,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,473,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,350,000 after acquiring an additional 173,975 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by 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.