Brokerages Set Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Price Target at $57.20

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.20.

SW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $48.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.48. Smurfit Westrock has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $54.00. The company has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 135.34%.

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.