Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.70.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial initiated 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SW. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $597,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,039,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,049,000 after buying an additional 500,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $511,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of SW opened at $44.51 on Monday. Smurfit Westrock has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.69. The company has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 312.73%.

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.