Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 152.2% in Q3 to 5,269,743 shares (about 1.01% of the company) valued at $224.3 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 83.38% of the stock.
• Analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $57.10, and recent upratings/target increases came from Wells Fargo and RBC.
• Smurfit Westrock missed quarterly EPS estimates ($0.34 vs. $0.46) and slightly missed revenue expectations, but raised its quarterly dividend to $0.4523 (annualized $1.81) for a 4.2% yield

Barclays PLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 152.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,269,743 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,180,531 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 1.01% of Smurfit Westrock worth $224,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 8.3% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 970,595 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,762,000 after purchasing an additional 74,360 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 520,366 shares of the company's stock worth $22,454,000 after purchasing an additional 34,088 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,239,822 shares of the company's stock worth $52,779,000 after purchasing an additional 372,177 shares during the last quarter. Exane Asset Management lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exane Asset Management now owns 345,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,703,000 after buying an additional 90,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.10.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW opened at $42.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $52.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $44.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.61.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 136.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock 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.

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