Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s share price traded up 0.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $53.25 and last traded at $52.42. 585,858 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 3,302,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SW shares. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.04 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.63.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 8.9% in the fourth 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 period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% during the 4th 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 period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring 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.