Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Trading 1.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) rose 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $45.50 and last traded at $45.72. Approximately 687,925 shares changed 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.68 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.61.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 9,581 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $597,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $520,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $77,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.