Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) were down 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $44.62 and last traded at $44.99. Approximately 707,471 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,552,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on SW shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 2.0 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a PE ratio of 83.62 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.