Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Grows Position in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 73.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,794 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $47.05 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 $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.67.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SW. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial set a $50.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.