Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) CFO Ken Bowles Sells 10,000 Shares

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

SW traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.65. 4,131,918 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,623,356. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $54.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 136.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SW shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.20.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.