Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.70.

SW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,708,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 28,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,354 shares of the company's stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 3,530 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 24,293 shares of the company's stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE:SW traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.01. 4,614,404 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,727,059. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.38 and a beta of 1.00. Smurfit Westrock has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $56.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.38 and a 200 day moving average of $49.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. On average, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

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.