South Dakota Investment Council Sells 69,318 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

South Dakota Investment Council cut its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 69,318 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $12,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $48.13 on Thursday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $52.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.80.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.96% and a net margin of 1.22%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.05) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 251.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital set a $71.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.54.

Smurfit Westrock News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Smurfit Westrock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Smurfit Westrock reported second-quarter revenue of $8.03 billion, above analysts’ $7.91 billion estimate and up 1.1% year over year. The company also generated $765 million in operating cash flow. Smurfit Westrock Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4523 per share, payable September 10 to shareholders of record August 14. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 3.8%, supporting the stock’s income appeal.
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on SW from $65 to $71 and reiterated an “overweight” rating, indicating continued confidence in the company’s longer-term potential. JPMorgan price target report
• Neutral Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $1.14 billion, representing a 14.2% margin. Some analysts view the current cost pressure as a near-term issue that could mask a stronger earnings opportunity in 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $0.35 per share, below the $0.42 consensus estimate and down from $0.45 a year earlier. The miss was attributed primarily to higher freight and other input costs. SW Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Management reduced its full-year adjusted EBITDA outlook to $4.9 billion–$5.1 billion, reinforcing concerns that elevated freight, energy and operating costs will continue to weigh on profitability.

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.