Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. cut its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 562,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,900 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock comprises approximately 0.8% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $24,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SW. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tsfg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 54.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 779 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $44.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.66 and a 200 day moving average of $44.39. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12 month low of $37.01 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.12 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.88 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 167.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 260.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.78.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.