Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Acquires 42,000 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 101.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,300 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 42,000 shares during the quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $3,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SW. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 448.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 697 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 54,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SW. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.08. 7,720,458 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,541,879. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $37.01 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.43. The company has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 1.04.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.41 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company's revenue was up 161.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 140.98%.

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.