Swedbank AB Has $4.93 Million Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Key Points

• Swedbank AB has decreased its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 60.4% during the first quarter, holding a total of 109,425 shares valued at approximately $4.93 million.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Smurfit Westrock, with a target price averaging $58.00; several firms have recently adjusted their price targets upward.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4308 per share, indicating an annualized yield of 3.9%, with a notably high dividend payout ratio of 260.61%.

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 60.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,425 shares of the company's stock after selling 166,903 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $4,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Tsfg LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.00.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW traded down $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.84. The stock had a trading volume of 19,817,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,454,105. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 66.42 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $45.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.22.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 1.14%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 260.61%.

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.