Tredje AP fonden Lowers Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Tredje AP fonden reduced its position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 84.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 359,325 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SW. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 163,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,319,000 after purchasing an additional 23,600 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 149,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 112,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after purchasing an additional 7,766 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $691,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of SW stock opened at $35.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.36. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $32.73 and a fifty-two week high of $52.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.55 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 251.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial set a $50.00 price objective on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.18.

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.