Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) traded down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $44.62 and last traded at $44.99. 707,471 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,552,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $23.57 billion, a PE ratio of 82.09 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.79 and its 200-day moving average is $50.69.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $362,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,955,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,591,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.