Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Trading Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s share price rose 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.24 and last traded at $45.56. Approximately 1,536,932 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 4,567,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SW. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $597,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,039,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,049,000 after purchasing an additional 500,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $511,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.