Lansdowne Partners UK LLP Sells 2,224,279 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Lansdowne Partners UK LLP reduced its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 53.5%, selling 2,224,279 shares during Q1, resulting in ownership of 1,929,952 shares, which represents 12.3% of their portfolio.
• Smurfit Westrock recently reported earnings per share of $0.45, missing expectations of $0.57, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 167.4% to $7.94 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8% with a payout ratio of 260.61%.

Lansdowne Partners UK LLP reduced its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 53.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,929,952 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,224,279 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock comprises 12.3% of Lansdowne Partners UK LLP's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP owned about 0.37% of Smurfit Westrock worth $86,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 139.3% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 76,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 44,513 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 2.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 986,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,456,000 after purchasing an additional 24,974 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 46.0% in the first quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Causeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.2% in the first quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,385,000 after purchasing an additional 30,880 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 50.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 197,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,884,000 after purchasing an additional 65,963 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.78.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 2.1%

Smurfit Westrock stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.38. 4,320,658 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,103,818. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.79 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $45.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.93.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 EPS 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 company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.88 billion. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 260.61%.

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.