Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Stock Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,193,682 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,490 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Smurfit Westrock worth $52,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter worth approximately $62,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 93.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth approximately $153,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter valued at approximately $172,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SW shares. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.15.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $45.17 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.52. The company has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52 week low of $32.73 and a 52 week high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.29 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 1.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.37%.

Smurfit Westrock Profile

Smurfit Westrock plc (NYSE:SW) is a global provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions. The company produces containerboard, corrugated packaging, folding cartons, paper bags, displays and other packaging products designed for consumer, retail, industrial and e-commerce applications. It also provides packaging design, supply-chain support and recycling services.

Smurfit Westrock was formed in July 2024 through the combination of Smurfit Kappa Group and WestRock. The transaction brought together two established packaging businesses with roots in Europe and North America.