Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Shares Up 7.9% – Time to Buy?

Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)’s stock price shot up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.63 and last traded at $42.7590. 3,061,381 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 4,707,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.60.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.6%

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05 and a beta of 1.09.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.10). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 2.40%.The business had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.89 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 120.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 342 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.