Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Price Target Lowered to $53.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $54.00 to $53.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 33.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SW. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $50.00 price objective on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.55.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 3.0%

Smurfit Westrock stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.55. 2,452,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,054,398. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock has a 12 month low of $32.73 and a 12 month high of $52.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,773,271.44. The trade was a 6.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 26.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,056,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,179,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,017,000 after acquiring an additional 39,013 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 7.5% during the first quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 33,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 61.7% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Smurfit Westrock

Here are the key news stories impacting Smurfit Westrock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat and robust adjusted EBITDA — Q1 revenue of $7.71B topped consensus (~$7.57B) and adjusted EBITDA remained strong at $1,076M (14.0% margin), suggesting resilient underlying cash-generative operations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase/confirmation supports income investors — Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 (annualized yield ~4.6%), which typically supports demand from yield-focused holders. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Operating cash flow and materials — Net cash provided by operating activities was $204M, showing positive cash conversion but not a dramatic swing. Investors will weigh cash flow against capital and leverage trends. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Calls and disclosures available — Management’s Q1 call transcript and slide deck are posted (useful for detail on volumes, pricing and working capital). Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and sharp year-over-year profit decline — Reported EPS $0.33 missed estimates (~$0.36) and fell sharply from $0.74 a year ago; net income margin and GAAP net income were weak, a clear short-term earnings disappointment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Volume and regional softness — Management flagged weather impacts and weaker North America volumes as drags on profitability and volumes, which could pressure near-term margins if conditions persist. Article Title

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.