Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $44.62 and last traded at $44.99. Approximately 707,471 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 4,552,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.62 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.53 and its 200 day moving average is $50.64.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $597,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $520,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,207,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.