Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Up 7.9% – What’s Next?

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) shares traded up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.63 and last traded at $42.7590. 3,061,381 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 4,707,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SW shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $51.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.60.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 8.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.71. The company has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20 and a beta of 1.09.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.10). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 2.40%.The business had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.89 billion. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SW. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 7.0% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 520,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,454,000 after acquiring an additional 34,088 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 42.5% in the 2nd quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 355,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,345,000 after purchasing an additional 106,040 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 121,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after buying an additional 7,657 shares during the last quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth about $10,360,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 60,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 7,588 shares in the last quarter. 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.