Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on SW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $54.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.79. The firm has a market cap of $28.36 billion, a PE ratio of 302.96 and a beta of 1.04. Smurfit Westrock has a one year low of $38.55 and a one year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 672.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SW. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth $627,244,000. FMR LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $340,848,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.