UBS Group AG Decreases Position in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

UBS Group AG lowered its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 67.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,620,677 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,619,476 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $140,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,806,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,013,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027,125 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 81.9% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 18,400,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,978,000 after purchasing an additional 8,286,205 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,353,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,917,000 after purchasing an additional 5,511,887 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,083,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,235,000 after purchasing an additional 246,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,693,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,101,000 after purchasing an additional 193,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at $84,660,119.40. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.0%

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $38.50 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $52.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95 and a beta of 1.06. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.56.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The company had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.91.

Smurfit Westrock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Smurfit Westrock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4523 per share (annualized yield ~4.7%); record/ex-dividend timing set for mid-May with payment in June — supports income-focused investors and signals confidence in cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported strong adjusted EBITDA of $1,076 million (14.0% margin) and positive operating cash flow of $204 million, which helps cushion the hit to net income and supports the dividend and balance-sheet stability. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 revenue was $7.712 billion, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.7%); net income was $63 million (0.8% margin). These are factual results investors should weigh alongside margins and cash metrics. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported EPS of $0.33 missed Street expectations (consensus ~$0.36–$0.44) and fell sharply versus last year ($0.73), driven by lower profits; analysts and coverage note weather impacts and weak North American volumes as key headwinds—main driver of the negative share reaction. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors can review the Q1 earnings call transcript for management commentary on volume trends, pricing, and regional performance to assess whether headwinds are temporary. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bullish coverage argues SW remains an attractive pick based on industry positioning and cash-generative operations — relevant for buy-and-hold investors weighing the near-term miss versus longer-term potential. Read More.

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.