Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) Stake Boosted by Exane Asset Management

Exane Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 118.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,289 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 118,487 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock comprises about 6.1% of Exane Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Exane Asset Management's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $10,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,308 shares of the company's stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company's stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,763 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Irial Finan bought 15,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 54,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.30.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.13. 3,020,646 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,527,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $37.01 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.63 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average is $43.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.07.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 business's revenue was up 161.3% 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 company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 140.98%.

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.