Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Position Boosted by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 30.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 101,476 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,769 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $4,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter valued at $51,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:SW opened at $42.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 1.06. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $52.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $44.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.58.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 136.09%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus dropped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.10.

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.