Key Points
- CEO Anthony Smurfit sold 40,000 shares at an average price of $51.54 for a total of $2,061,600, trimming his stake by 2.38% to 1,642,610 shares.
- The company missed quarterly expectations (EPS $0.34 vs. $0.46 expected; revenue $7.58B vs. $7.63B) while analysts hold a "Moderate Buy" consensus and a $57.20 average price target.
- Smurfit Westrock raised its quarterly dividend to $0.4523 (annualized $1.81, ~3.7% yield), though the payout ratio is high at 136%.
Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.
Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.1%
Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $48.71 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $54.00. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.60 and a 200 day moving average of $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.95.
Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Smurfit Westrock's revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.09%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.20.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Smurfit Westrock
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 8,739 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,737 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,969,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 22,148 shares of the company's stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 116.9% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 241,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 129,905 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Smurfit Westrock Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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