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

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $44.71, but opened at $47.06. Smurfit Westrock shares last traded at $48.40, with a volume of 613,374 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.43.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 2.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $26.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 286.13 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.06). Smurfit Westrock had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.98%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.91 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 672.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 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.