Legal & General Group Plc Increases Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,587,987 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 471,415 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.88% of Smurfit Westrock worth $177,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 4.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 5.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW opened at $39.96 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.45. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $52.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.50 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 251.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial set a $50.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.