Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Trading Down 5.3% – Here’s What Happened

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) dropped 5.3% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $43.50 and last traded at $44.07. Approximately 1,019,069 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 4,588,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.78. The firm has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 78.51 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 $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. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $1,300,041,000. State Street Corp purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $627,244,000. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $431,653,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $386,712,000. Hedge funds and other 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.