Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,249 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,455 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $9,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 448.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 697 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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. Finally, Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of SW opened at $43.08 on Friday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50-day moving average is $43.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.43.

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

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SW. Barclays reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.50.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, Director Irial Finan bought 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.

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