Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Smurfit Westrock, with 11 buy ratings and two holds; the average 12-month price target is $57.62 versus a share price of $49.21.
• The company’s latest quarter showed mixed results: revenue rose 1.1% year over year to $8.03 billion, exceeding estimates, but earnings per share of $0.35 fell short of the $0.42 consensus.
• Smurfit Westrock declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per share, equal to an annualized $1.81 payout and a 3.7% yield; institutional investors own 83.38% of the stock.

Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.6154.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SW shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Research Partners restated a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 13,721 shares of the company's stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 4.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 5.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,082 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW opened at $49.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $32.73 and a one year high of $52.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 52.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.96.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.07). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.60% and a net margin of 1.59%.The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.05) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 192.55%.

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.

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