Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Receives $53.45 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.1818.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SW. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $40.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.51. The company has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.87 and a beta of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock has a fifty-two week low of $32.73 and a fifty-two week high of $52.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 251.39%.

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.