Private Management Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

Key Points

• Private Management Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 6.1%, now holding 172,429 shares worth approximately $7.77 million.
• In the latest quarterly earnings report, Smurfit Westrock exceeded analysts' expectations with $0.73 earnings per share and reported revenue of $7.66 billion, reflecting a 161.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $0.4308 per share, resulting in a yield of 3.7% and a payout ratio of 140.98%.

Private Management Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 172,429 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,174 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $7,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SW. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 20,720,312 shares of the company's stock worth $1,115,996,000 after acquiring an additional 7,050,781 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,962,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,853,000 after purchasing an additional 4,444,704 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,328,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $769,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,939 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $72,812,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,901,172 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,147 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Irial Finan bought 15,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owned 54,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,152,354.53. This 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 accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock traded down $1.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.08. 2,466,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,652,107. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $44.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1 year low of $37.01 and a 1 year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company's revenue was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 140.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.90.

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.