Exane Asset Management Acquires 219,545 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Exane Asset Management boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 63.6% in Q4, acquiring 219,545 shares to hold 564,938 shares (about $21.85M), which represents ~5.0% of Exane’s portfolio and is its 6th largest holding.
• Company insiders sold shares on Feb. 19: CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares at an average $51.26 and CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares at an average $51.54, reducing their ownership stakes; insiders now own 0.46% of the stock.
• Analysts are broadly positive with 11 Buys, 1 Hold and 1 Sell, an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.91.

Exane Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 63.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 564,938 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 219,545 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock makes up approximately 5.0% of Exane Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Exane Asset Management owned 0.11% of Smurfit Westrock worth $21,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $54.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.91.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $42.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $52.65. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.63. The company has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.4523 dividend. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.09%.

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.

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