Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Argus lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial set a $60.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.91.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $40.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.4523 dividend. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 136.09%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.