Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.33 EPS

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Smurfit Westrock had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 5.0 %

NYSE SW opened at $50.97 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.63 and a 200-day moving average of $49.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 283.18 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock has a 52 week low of $38.55 and a 52 week high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 672.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% 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.