Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.60.

SW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $63.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $51.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:SW opened at $41.00 on Wednesday. Smurfit Westrock has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $56.05. The firm has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.72.

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

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 17.1% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 242.2% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 38,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after buying an additional 27,413 shares during the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter worth $473,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 284.8% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 6.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 5,022,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,504,000 after acquiring an additional 311,770 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is 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.