Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 30.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,751,085 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 406,868 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $69,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW opened at $48.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.44 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.60. The company has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The business had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 251.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SW. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.83.

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.