Analysts Set Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Target Price at $60.70

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.70.

Several brokerages have weighed in on SW. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $72,812,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,473,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,350,000 after purchasing an additional 173,975 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 61.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, BIP Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $488,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW opened at $46.53 on Thursday. Smurfit Westrock has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.73. The company has a market cap of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.61 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued 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%. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

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.