Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners sold 153,429 shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC, reducing its stake by 25.4% and now owns 451,189 shares valued at approximately $20.3 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Orbis Allan Gray Ltd, have significantly increased their positions in Smurfit Westrock, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Smurfit Westrock with a price target of $57.78, while the company recently missed earnings expectations with an EPS of $0.45.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 451,189 shares of the company's stock after selling 153,429 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of Smurfit Westrock worth $20,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,721 shares of the company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 2.8% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 11,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 37,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.78.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.8%

SW traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.37. 3,358,871 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,750,065. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $37.01 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $45.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.56.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. Smurfit Westrock's quarterly revenue was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 260.61%.

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.