Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 159,103 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

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 decreased its position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 510,188 shares of the company's stock after selling 159,103 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Smurfit Westrock worth $22,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 40.6% in 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 period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 120.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 180,908 shares of the company's stock worth $9,744,000 after buying an additional 98,887 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 700,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,749,000 after buying an additional 426,723 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $225,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 2,102.8% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 239,508 shares of the company's stock worth $12,900,000 after buying an additional 228,635 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock traded down $1.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.64. 4,820,117 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,715,206. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $44.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.60 and a beta of 1.06. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $37.01 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The company's revenue was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is currently 260.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SW. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 note on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.00.

About Smurfit Westrock

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.