Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Key Points

• Smurfit Westrock shares fell 5.3% after opening at $47.46, down from a prior close of $50.80, following a quarterly earnings miss.
• The company reported adjusted earnings of $0.35 per share, below the $0.42 consensus estimate, while revenue of $8.03 billion exceeded expectations and rose 1.1% year over year.
• Despite the earnings shortfall, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $56.54; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.4523, yielding about 3.8%.

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $50.80, but opened at $47.46. Smurfit Westrock shares last traded at $47.7160, with a volume of 662,985 shares traded.

The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The business had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.05) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 251.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Smurfit Westrock from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.54.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 36,127,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,397,057,000 after buying an additional 8,596,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,652,132 shares of the company's stock worth $953,311,000 after buying an additional 845,218 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,978,000 after acquiring an additional 8,286,205 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,795,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $531,483,000 after acquiring an additional 155,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $495,335,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 5.3%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $43.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.76. The firm has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 66.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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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