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

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.70.

SW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their target price 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, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW stock opened at $41.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.58 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 83.38% of the stock is 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.