Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW)

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 20,083 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 21,969% compared to the typical volume of 91 call options.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,299,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,099,932. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.77 and a beta of 1.05. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $49.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.76.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.91 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 2.5%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 101.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.80.

About Smurfit Westrock

WestRock is a multinational provider of paper and packaging solutions for consumer and corrugated packaging markets. The company is one of the largest integrated producers of containerboard by tons produced, and one of the largest producers of high-graphics preprinted linerboard on the basis of net sales in North America.