California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 27,572,248 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Smurfit Westrock stake by 4,569.7% in the second quarter, acquiring 27.57 million shares and ending with a 5.37% ownership stake valued at approximately $1.30 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with 11 Buy ratings and two Holds. The consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $57.69.
• Smurfit Westrock reported quarterly revenue of $8.03 billion, slightly above estimates, but earnings per share of $0.35 missed expectations of $0.42. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.4523, representing a 4.2% annualized yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 4,569.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,175,624 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,572,248 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 5.37% of Smurfit Westrock worth $1,303,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 36,127,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,397,057,000 after acquiring an additional 8,596,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,652,132 shares of the company's stock worth $953,311,000 after purchasing an additional 845,218 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company's stock worth $793,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286,205 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,795,987 shares of the company's stock worth $531,483,000 after purchasing an additional 155,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $495,335,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.69.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE:SW opened at $43.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 46.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 4.60%. The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.05) EPS. Smurfit Westrock's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 192.55%.

About Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock plc NYSE: SW is a global provider of paper and corrugated packaging solutions. The company designs and manufactures products such as corrugated shipping containers, consumer packaging, folding cartons, paper bags, displays and other fiber-based packaging used across a range of industries.

The company also produces containerboard and other paper products that support its packaging operations, along with recycling and packaging-related services. Its customers include businesses in the food and beverage, consumer products, industrial, e-commerce and retail sectors.

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