Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Raised to "Overweight" at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Smurfit Westrock was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting a positive shift in investor sentiment.
• Truist Financial and Morgan Stanley also increased their price targets for the stock, indicating growing confidence in its performance, with current consensus price target set at $57.80.
• The company's quarterly revenue increased by 167.4% year-over-year, achieving $7.94 billion despite reporting an EPS of $0.45, which was below analyst expectations.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.20% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SW. Barclays cut their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $57.80.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of SW stock opened at $41.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.43 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.98. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $37.01 and a one year high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. Smurfit Westrock's revenue was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SW. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $681,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the company's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,504 shares of the company's stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. 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.