Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.50.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE:SW traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.82. 3,126,007 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,502,044. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.04. The firm has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10 and a beta of 1.04. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $37.01 and a one year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.41 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 161.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 140.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smurfit Westrock news, Director Irial Finan acquired 15,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 54,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,152,354.53. This represents a 38.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,308 shares of the company's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.