Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Has $34.24 Million Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI reduced its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC by **59.8%** during the first quarter, owning approximately **765,749 shares** valued at **$34.24 million**.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in Smurfit Westrock, with Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG leading with a **40.6%** increase, reflecting a **strong interest** in the company among major funds.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of **$57.78** for Smurfit Westrock, with ratings ranging from **"Hold"** to **"Buy"**, indicating **positive market sentiment** toward the stock's future performance.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lessened its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 59.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 765,749 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,140,230 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned approximately 0.15% of Smurfit Westrock worth $34,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,187,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,564,678,000 after purchasing an additional 316,074 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,051,299,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,244,072 shares of the company's stock worth $461,598,000 after acquiring an additional 395,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 10,114,213 shares of the company's stock worth $455,746,000 after acquiring an additional 4,329,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.9%

SW stock traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.30. 3,339,059 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,890,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.12 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $45.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.33. 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 data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.88 billion. The company's revenue was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SW. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.78.

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.