Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Stake Raised by CI Investments Inc.

CI Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 23.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,720 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,523 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $3,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $45.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.59. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $32.73 and a fifty-two week high of $52.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.09%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $2,061,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.20.

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.