Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Down 7.5% – Here’s Why

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) shares fell 7.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $41.56 and last traded at $41.6390. 1,201,556 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,888,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The business had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 251.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 90.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 8,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 12,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.