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

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 5,058.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 727,710 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 713,602 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.14% of Smurfit Westrock worth $31,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 81.4% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $37.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 1.10. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $56.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.34.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.10). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.89 billion. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 120.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SW shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.60.

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.