Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 2,154,401 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,790,061 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,154,401 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.45% of Smurfit Westrock worth $549,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 121,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,231,000 after buying an additional 7,657 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 60,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 7,588 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter worth about $481,000. Strs Ohio raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 43.2% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 49,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 14,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter valued at about $26,028,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SW. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.30.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.5%

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $34.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92 and a beta of 1.11. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $33.71 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.17 and its 200 day moving average is $43.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.10). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.89 billion. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 120.28%.

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.