Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Smurfit Westrock has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, based on coverage from 13 firms; 11 rate it a buy and 2 a hold. The average 1-year price target is about $54.83.
• The company’s most recent quarterly results missed earnings expectations, with EPS of $0.33 versus the $0.36 estimate, though revenue came in slightly above forecasts at $7.71 billion. Analysts still expect full-year EPS of 2.24.
• Smurfit Westrock also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 4.1%. Institutional investors remain heavily involved, owning 83.38% of the stock.

Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.8333.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SW shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of SW stock opened at $44.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $32.73 and a one year high of $52.65. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.40. The company has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.66, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

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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