Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW is Polaris Capital Management LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Polaris Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,742,660 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,400 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock accounts for 4.9% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned 0.33% of Smurfit Westrock worth $74,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SW. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 90.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 8,726 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 12,096 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW opened at $42.98 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 1.09. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a one year low of $32.73 and a one year high of $56.05.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.89 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 2.40%.Smurfit Westrock’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 120.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $51.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.60.

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.