Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 8.3% Following Dividend Announcement

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) traded up 8.3% on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $44.18 and last traded at $44.2790. 3,334,192 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 5,378,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.90.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 120.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SW shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $63.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, December 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.60.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 2.8%

The stock has a market cap of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.