Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 50.3% during the first quarter, owning a total of 197,150 shares valued at approximately $8.88 million.
• Analysts have expressed optimism, with numerous upgrades; Jefferies Financial Group lifted its price target from $44.00 to $55.00, while the average target price across eight analysts currently stands at $57.78.
• Smurfit Westrock recently reported quarterly earnings, missing consensus EPS estimates but showed a remarkable 167.4% year-over-year revenue increase, totaling $7.94 billion.

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,150 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 65,963 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $8,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% during the first 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 period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 20.7% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.8% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 2.8% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 11,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% in the first quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 37,137 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.78.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

NYSE SW opened at $46.30 on Wednesday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12 month low of $37.01 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a PE ratio of 70.16 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 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 company had revenue of $7.94 billion for 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend 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.

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