Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Given New $51.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup cut its price target on Smurfit Westrock to $51 from $53 but kept a "buy" rating, a target that implies roughly a 33% upside from the stock's prior close; the consensus analyst target is about $53.45 with 11 buys, 1 hold and 1 sell (a "Moderate Buy").
• The shares traded down about 3% to $38.26, well below analyst targets and the 12‑month high of $52.65, with a market cap of $20.06 billion and a high P/E of 53.28.
• In the most recent quarter Smurfit Westrock reported EPS of $0.33 (missed consensus $0.36) but beat on revenue at $7.71 billion, while net margin was slim at 1.22%, signaling modest profitability.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $53.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 33.31% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on SW. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $50.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.45.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE SW traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,584,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,063,911. Smurfit Westrock has a twelve month low of $32.73 and a twelve month high of $52.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.28 and a beta of 0.95. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. The trade was a 6.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $495,335,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 36,127,677 shares of the company's stock worth $1,397,057,000 after purchasing an additional 8,596,558 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company's stock worth $793,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286,205 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 272.0% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,240,153 shares of the company's stock worth $478,493,000 after buying an additional 8,218,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 8,132.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,724,100 shares of the company's stock worth $221,351,000 after buying an additional 5,654,571 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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