Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s stock price traded up 1.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $45.15 and last traded at $44.79. 716,214 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 4,551,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a PE ratio of 82.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

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