Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s share price traded up 1.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $45.15 and last traded at $44.79. 716,214 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,551,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $23.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.84 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.66. 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 issued its 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 return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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.