Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $48.74, but opened at $46.13. Smurfit Westrock shares last traded at $45.4570, with a volume of 1,241,484 shares changing hands.

Specifically, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SW shares. Argus reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.20.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.93 and a 200 day moving average of $41.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 135.34%.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

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

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.