Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Trading Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) fell 1.7% on Friday . The company traded as low as $45.88 and last traded at $45.95. 948,822 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 4,591,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SW. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised 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. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 1.0 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.96 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.

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 the consensus estimate 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 research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. 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 is currently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % 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 Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $791,000. Stephens Inc. AR bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,605,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $279,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $6,334,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by 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.