Smurfit Westrock Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SW)

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 9,405 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,460% compared to the average volume of 603 call options.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $35.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,854,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,016,127. Smurfit Westrock has a fifty-two week low of $35.00 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.34 and a 200 day moving average of $43.66.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.10). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.89 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 73.2% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 35.6% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 28,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 18.6% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 486,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,912,000 after acquiring an additional 76,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth $16,233,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SW. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $56.90.

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.