Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Smurfit Westrock from hold to sell, even though the broader analyst view remains positive with 11 Buy ratings and an average Moderate Buy rating.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.33, missing consensus estimates of $0.36, while revenue of $7.71 billion slightly topped expectations and rose 0.7% year over year.
• Insider selling was notable, with CFO Ken Bowles and CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit both selling shares in February, though institutional ownership remains high at 83.38%.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SW. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.18.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 0.1%

SW stock opened at $41.66 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock has a 52 week low of $32.73 and a 52 week high of $52.65. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.53. The company has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a PE ratio of 57.86 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. The trade was a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. 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 valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 6,378 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company's stock worth $2,188,000 after buying an additional 2,698 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 8,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company's stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 12,096 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently 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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