Truist Financial Cuts Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Price Target to $50.00

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Truist Financial from $62.00 to $50.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SW. 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 research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised 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, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,087,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,747,070. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.78. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $37.01 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.87 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 9,581 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,039,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $272,049,000 after buying an additional 500,699 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $936,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth $221,026,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.