M&G PLC Buys 31,551 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

M&G PLC grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 145,819 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,551 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $6,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 50.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $51.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $55.49. The company has a market capitalization of $26.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.77 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.26.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The business’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 129.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.40.

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.