Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,253,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,614 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.01% of Smurfit Westrock worth $223,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth $51,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on SW shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.10.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW opened at $39.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.45. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $52.65.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 136.09%.

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.