Causeway Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 1.2%, making the stock its 5th largest holding, with a total of approximately 2,693,844 shares valued at $121.4 million.
• Smurfit Westrock announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per share, resulting in a yield of 3.8%, with a payout ratio of 260.61% as of August 15th.
• Analysts have bullish expectations for Smurfit Westrock, with eight recommending a "Buy" rating and a consensus target price of $57.78, indicating potential growth for the stock.

Causeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,693,844 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,880 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock accounts for about 2.5% of Causeway Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Causeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Smurfit Westrock worth $121,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tsfg LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays cut 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.78.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $47.38. 4,320,658 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,103,818. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.79 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50 day moving average price is $45.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.93. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a one year low of $37.01 and a one year high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45.

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

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 260.61%.

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.