Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 2.4% – What’s Next?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s stock price traded up 2.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $44.62 and last traded at $44.46. 428,750 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 4,567,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $22.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.19 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.