Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Time to Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) shares shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $44.62 and last traded at $44.46. 428,750 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 4,567,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.68. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.47 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,300,041,000. State Street Corp bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $431,653,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $386,712,000. 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.