Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Given New $56.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on SW. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.83.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.8%

SW opened at $44.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.42 and a 200 day moving average of $42.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock has a 12 month low of $32.73 and a 12 month high of $52.65. The firm has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 251.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $495,335,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 36,127,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,397,057,000 after buying an additional 8,596,558 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,978,000 after buying an additional 8,286,205 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 8,132.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,724,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,351,000 after buying an additional 5,654,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter worth approximately $243,400,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.