Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,504,597 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Smurfit Westrock worth $64,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $42.17 on Thursday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $52.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.57.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.4523 dividend. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 135.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on SW shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price target on 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.