Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 15,128 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 33.6%, now holding 29,856 shares valued at approximately $1.35 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades show a positive outlook for Smurfit Westrock, with several firms raising their price targets, including Truist Financial's increase from $50.00 to $54.00 and Jefferies Financial Group's upgrade to $55.00.
• Smurfit Westrock reported a net margin of 1.98% and a significant revenue increase of 167.4% year-over-year in its latest earnings, though it missed earnings expectations with a reported EPS of ($0.05).

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 33.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,856 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,128 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 42,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 12,166 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 120.6% in the fourth 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 lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% in the fourth 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 stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 2,102.8% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 239,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,900,000 after purchasing an additional 228,635 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE SW traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $43.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,103,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,700,783. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.61 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $37.01 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The firm's 50 day moving average is $44.89 and its 200-day moving average is $46.21.

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

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 260.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.