Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $54.32 and last traded at $53.22, with a volume of 67216 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SW shares. 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 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 2.7 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 287.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 672.26%.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $62,832,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $51,430,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $49,538,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $39,627,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $29,716,000. 83.38% of the stock is 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.