Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) shares dropped 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $45.50 and last traded at $45.72. Approximately 363,248 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 4,538,326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.64. The company has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.29 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently 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.