Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Buys 7,900 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 4.1% in Q1, owning 198,806 shares worth approximately $8.96 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG and NewEdge Advisors LLC, have significantly increased their stakes, with hedge funds now owning 83.38% of the company's stock.
• Smurfit Westrock is projected to post $3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year, despite a recent earnings miss of $0.12 against analysts' estimates.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,806 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $8,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 969,929 shares of the company's stock worth $43,668,000 after purchasing an additional 269,893 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 215,716 shares of the company's stock worth $9,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 29,217 shares of the company's stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 7,678 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 40,849 shares of the company's stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,138,983 shares of the company's stock worth $186,485,000 after purchasing an additional 587,626 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock traded down $0.0690 on Monday, reaching $45.6310. 629,939 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,741,262. The firm's 50 day moving average is $44.99 and its 200-day moving average is $45.11. 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. The firm has a market cap of $23.82 billion, a PE ratio of 69.15 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 1.14%.The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. The firm's revenue was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 260.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.78.

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.