Nuveen Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,720,312 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,050,781 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 3.98% of Smurfit Westrock worth $1,115,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $171,026,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,716,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $221,026,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,771,000 after purchasing an additional 6,634 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $46.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.52. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.66 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. The business had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.41 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 161.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SW. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.21 per share, for a total transaction of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.