Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Rating Increased to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) was upgraded by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, FinViz reports. The brokerage presently has a $58.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $52.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.43.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE:SW opened at $50.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.01 and a beta of 1.05. Smurfit Westrock has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $50.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.25.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.91 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 1.36%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,832,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $39,627,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $22,299,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $16,262,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $14,835,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.