Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Time to Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s stock price shot up 1.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $45.15 and last traded at $44.79. 716,214 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,551,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 1.4 %

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 capitalization of $23.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.47 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.66.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, equities analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 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.