Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 161,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,484,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Smurfit Westrock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Loop Capital set a $71.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.69.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW stock opened at $45.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.45 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.65. The company has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 48.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 4.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.05) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.55%.

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.