Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 58.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 98,020 shares valued at about $3.79 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding 83.38% of the stock. Several large firms also boosted positions, including Orbis Allan Gray, UBS Group, Franklin Resources, Ruffer, and Barclays.
• Smurfit Westrock reported Q1 earnings of $0.33 per share, below estimates of $0.36, though revenue of $7.71 billion topped expectations. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per share, implying a 4.3% yield.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 58.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,020 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,137 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $3,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SW. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286,205 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 272.0% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,240,153 shares of the company's stock worth $478,493,000 after purchasing an additional 8,218,351 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 94.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,353,140 shares of the company's stock worth $482,917,000 after purchasing an additional 5,511,887 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 473.3% in the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 4,504,151 shares of the company's stock worth $174,447,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718,562 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 152.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.18.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW stock opened at $41.66 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $52.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.86 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Smurfit Westrock's revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 251.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. The trade was a 6.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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