Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $50.80, but opened at $47.46. Smurfit Westrock shares last traded at $47.7160, with a volume of 662,985 shares.

The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.91 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.05) EPS.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 251.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 79,790.6% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 127,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,459,000 after acquiring an additional 127,665 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $2,412,000. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 369,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,294,000 after purchasing an additional 30,804 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $924,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1,042.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 207,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,021,000 after purchasing an additional 189,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 66.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.76.

About Smurfit Westrock

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.