Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 13.8% in the quarter to 456,528 shares (about $19.43 million), while institutional investors collectively own roughly 83.38% of the company.
• Smurfit Westrock missed quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.34 versus $0.46 estimated and revenue of $7.58 billion versus $7.63 billion expected, but the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.4523 (annualized $1.81, ~4.3% yield) despite a high payout ratio (~135%).
• Insiders trimmed holdings on Feb. 19, with CEO Anthony P.J. Smurfit selling 40,000 shares and CFO Ken Bowles selling 10,000 shares at about $51.50 per share, leaving insiders owning roughly 0.49% of the stock.

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 13.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 456,528 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 55,255 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Smurfit Westrock worth $19,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 90.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company's stock worth $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,698 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 8,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 12,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $42.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 1.06. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52 week low of $32.73 and a 52 week high of $52.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.31 and a 200 day moving average of $41.57.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 135.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SW. Argus dropped 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $60.00 price objective on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.10.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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