Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Upgraded to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $58.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $52.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.43.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SW opened at $51.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 285.89 and a beta of 1.04. Smurfit Westrock has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $52.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 672.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,832,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $39,627,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $29,716,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $22,299,000. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $16,262,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently 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.