Tredje AP fonden Purchases 100,000 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC by 31.3% during the first quarter, obtaining a total of 419,824 shares valued at approximately $18.9 million.
• Several hedge funds have also expanded their investments in Smurfit Westrock, with Nuveen Asset Management raising its stake by 51.6%, further emphasizing increasing institutional interest in the company.
• Smurfit Westrock announced a dividend payout of $0.4308, yielding 3.7%, despite a high payout ratio of 140.98%, signaling strong shareholder returns amid significant revenue growth.

Tredje AP fonden grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 31.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 419,824 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden owned approximately 0.08% of Smurfit Westrock worth $18,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 42,104 shares of the company's stock worth $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 12,166 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 120.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 180,908 shares of the company's stock worth $9,744,000 after acquiring an additional 98,887 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 161,709 shares of the company's stock worth $8,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $823,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 156.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 700,036 shares of the company's stock worth $37,749,000 after acquiring an additional 426,723 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SW. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 54,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of SW traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.37. 4,016,515 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,330,531. The stock has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a PE ratio of 67.23 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $44.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.36. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12 month low of $37.01 and a 12 month high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.88 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. Smurfit Westrock's revenue for the quarter was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.