Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s share price shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.24 and last traded at $45.56. 1,536,932 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 4,567,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 82.67 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.79%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 700,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,749,000 after purchasing an additional 426,723 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 114,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,179,000 after buying an additional 22,430 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $8,973,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $72,812,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,473,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,350,000 after acquiring an additional 173,975 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.