Allstate Corp Cuts Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Allstate Corp reduced its stock position in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 43.8% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 8,588 shares valued at approximately $387,000.
• Multiple large investors increased their positions in Smurfit Westrock, with Versant Capital Management Inc leading with a 54.0% increase, resulting in a total of 779 shares.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per share, scheduled for payment on September 18th, representing an annual yield of 3.7%.

Allstate Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 43.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,588 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,699 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter worth about $29,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Tsfg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SW. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.78.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 2.1%

SW traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.38. 4,320,658 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,103,818. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.79 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52 week low of $37.01 and a 52 week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 EPS 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%. The business's revenue was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.