Smurfit Westrock (SW) vs. Its Competitors Critical Analysis

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) is one of 70 publicly-traded companies in the “Containers & Packaging” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Smurfit Westrock to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.4% of shares of all “Containers & Packaging” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of shares of all “Containers & Packaging” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Smurfit Westrock and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smurfit Westrock	1.59%	4.60%	1.85%
Smurfit Westrock Competitors	-28.76%	-31.82%	2.15%

Dividends

Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Smurfit Westrock pays out 192.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Containers & Packaging” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.1% and pay out -106.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Smurfit Westrock lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Smurfit Westrock and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smurfit Westrock	0	2	11	0	2.85
Smurfit Westrock Competitors	381	2318	3367	84	2.51

Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus price target of $57.62, indicating a potential upside of 19.45%. As a group, “Containers & Packaging” companies have a potential upside of 29.43%. Given Smurfit Westrock’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Smurfit Westrock has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Volatility & Risk

Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smurfit Westrock’s competitors have a beta of 0.80, indicating that their average share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Smurfit Westrock and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smurfit Westrock	$31.18 billion	$699.00 million	51.31
Smurfit Westrock Competitors	$8.00 billion	$208.36 million	14.44

Smurfit Westrock has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Smurfit Westrock is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Smurfit Westrock beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It also produces linerboard and corrugated medium, paperboard, and non-packaging grades of paper, as well as converted products, such as folding cartons and corrugated boxes, and other products; recycled paper-based packaging products; and packaging machinery. The company primarily serves food and beverage, e-commerce, retail, consumer goods, industrial, and foodservice markets. Smurfit Westrock Plc was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.