47,103 Shares in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Bought by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC, purchasing 47,103 shares valued at approximately $2,123,000 during the first quarter.
• Independent insider buying has increased, with Director Irial Finan acquiring 15,180 shares, indicating confidence in the company's prospects.
• Smurfit Westrock's stock has reported a 167.4% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, but recently missed EPS expectations, reporting ($0.05) per share.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 47,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,123,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tsfg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.0%

SW stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,016,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,330,531. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12 month low of $37.01 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The business's 50 day moving average price is $44.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.30. The company has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.23 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 1.14%. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 260.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, Director Irial Finan bought 15,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 54,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.00.

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.