Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Key Points

• Smurfit Westrock reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.05), falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.57, although revenue increased by 167.4% year-over-year to $7.94 billion.
• The company's stock dropped 1.6% to $47.45 following the earnings report, with a market capitalization of $24.77 billion and a PE ratio of 38.89.
• Smurfit Westrock announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308, reflecting a 3.63% dividend yield, despite a high payout ratio of 140.98%.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.12), Zacks reports. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE SW traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,609,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,701,359. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $37.01 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $44.87 and its 200-day moving average is $46.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 260.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 54,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,354.53. The trade was a 38.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 12,096 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 2.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 519,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,394,000 after purchasing an additional 11,832 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company's stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 90.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the company's stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,188,000 after buying an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SW. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.00.

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.