Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Purchased by Verbena Value LP

Key Points

• Verbena Value LP increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 67% in the first quarter, buying an additional 431,900 shares and bringing its total to 1,076,500 shares worth about $42.9 million.
• Smurfit Westrock reported quarterly EPS of $0.33, missing analyst expectations, even though revenue of $7.71 billion came in slightly above estimates and rose 0.7% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per share, annualized to $1.81 with a 4.1% yield, while Wall Street remains largely positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $54.17 target price.

Verbena Value LP raised its position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 67.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,076,500 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 431,900 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock comprises about 7.0% of Verbena Value LP's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Verbena Value LP owned approximately 0.21% of Smurfit Westrock worth $42,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $44.29 on Monday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $52.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 61.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.23.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. Smurfit Westrock's revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.17.

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.

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