Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 739,065 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,972 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.14% of Smurfit Westrock worth $33,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 448.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 697 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SW shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.50.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $42.49. 11,210,123 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,524,726. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.78.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.41 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 161.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 140.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Irial Finan acquired 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.