XTX Topco Ltd Buys Shares of 53,282 Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd has acquired 53,282 shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC, valued at approximately $2.4 million, during the first quarter of the year.
• Market analysts have raised price targets for Smurfit Westrock, with firms like Truist Financial setting a new target of $54.00 and Jefferies Financial Group increasing theirs to $55.00.
• Smurfit Westrock recently declared a dividend of $0.4308 per share, with a yield of 3.7%, although its payout ratio stands high at 140.98%.

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 53,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,401,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the first quarter valued at $2,123,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the first quarter valued at about $1,785,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 232,829 shares of the company's stock worth $10,491,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% in the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 116,544 shares of the company's stock worth $5,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,515 shares of the company's stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, Director Irial Finan bought 15,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.00.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

NYSE SW traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.37. 4,016,515 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,330,531. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.36. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1 year low of $37.01 and a 1 year 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 0.93. The company has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.23 and a beta of 1.06.

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 (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 net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 167.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 260.61%.

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.