Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.60.

A number of research analysts have commented on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $51.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Argus cut their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 90.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 8,726 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 12,096 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $43.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61 and a beta of 1.09. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $32.73 and a one year high of $56.05.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.89 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 2.40%.The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 120.28%.

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.