North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires New Shares in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SW. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 4.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 5.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

NYSE:SW opened at $37.77 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.46 and a beta of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $52.65.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Smurfit Westrock’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 251.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SW has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial set a $50.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.