Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,400 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $6,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $38.09 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $32.73 and a fifty-two week high of $52.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 52.90 and a beta of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The business had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Smurfit Westrock’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 251.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SW shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.