Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) traded down 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $45.50 and last traded at $45.72. 363,248 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 4,538,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SW. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.59.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SW. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $362,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at about $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $5,955,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $426,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $957,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.