Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.18.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $41.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 57.82 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.19 and a 200 day moving average of $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $32.73 and a one year high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.Smurfit Westrock’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

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

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 worth $1,397,057,000 after purchasing an additional 8,596,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,652,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,311,000 after purchasing an additional 845,218 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake 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 worth $793,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286,205 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,795,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,483,000 after purchasing an additional 155,778 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $495,335,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently 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.