Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Price Target Cut to $64.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

SW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE SW opened at $43.62 on Tuesday. Smurfit Westrock has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $56.99. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.31 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.76.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $72,812,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,473,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,350,000 after acquiring an additional 173,975 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, BIP Alliance LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $488,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.