Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Given New $50.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on SW. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Truist Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.60.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW opened at $36.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.22. Smurfit Westrock has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SW. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,378 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% during 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 buying an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 12,096 shares in the last quarter. 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.