Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $1.16 Million in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 25,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,161,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1,042.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 207,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,021,000 after purchasing an additional 189,276 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 23.4% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 194,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,002,000 after purchasing an additional 36,900 shares during the period. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth about $243,400,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 212,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 21,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter worth about $44,056,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW opened at $49.53 on Wednesday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $52.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a PE ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.96.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 4.60%. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Loop Capital set a $71.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.62.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.