Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Purchased by Causeway Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 7.2% in Q3 to 7,522,983 shares, representing about 4.2% of Causeway’s portfolio and roughly 1.44% of Smurfit Westrock (valued at ~$320.3M).
• Smurfit Westrock raised its quarterly dividend to $0.4523 (annualized $1.81) for a ~4.3% yield, even as the company missed quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.34 (vs. $0.46 expected) and slightly lower revenue.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly favorable: the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $57.10 (10 Buy, 2 Hold).

Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,522,983 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 507,289 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock accounts for about 4.2% of Causeway Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Causeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.44% of Smurfit Westrock worth $320,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter worth about $749,735,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,978,000 after acquiring an additional 8,286,205 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 152.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,269,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,180,531 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4,580.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,861,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,421,330 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,472,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,997 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Smurfit Westrock from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $42.11 on Tuesday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52 week low of $32.73 and a 52 week high of $52.65. The business's 50 day moving average price is $44.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 136.09%.

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.

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