Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Stake Lessened by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 23.8%, selling 159,103 shares, while still retaining ownership of 510,188 shares worth approximately $22.99 million.
• Smurfit Westrock announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.72 and a yield of 3.9%, despite a high payout ratio of 260.61%.
• Recent earnings showed that Smurfit Westrock missed estimates with an EPS of $0.45, although revenues increased significantly to $7.94 billion, exceeding expectations.

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 510,188 shares of the company's stock after selling 159,103 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Smurfit Westrock worth $22,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SW. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 42,104 shares of the company's stock worth $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 12,166 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 120.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 180,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,744,000 after acquiring an additional 98,887 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 700,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,749,000 after acquiring an additional 426,723 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 2,102.8% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 239,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,900,000 after buying an additional 228,635 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 54,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SW has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $44.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,472,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,531,357. The company has a market cap of $23.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.74 and a beta of 1.06. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $37.01 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The firm's fifty day moving average is $44.89 and its 200-day moving average is $46.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 1.14%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is currently 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.