Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 11,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SW opened at $35.85 on Wednesday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.57. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 1.11.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.89 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 2.40%.Smurfit Westrock’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 120.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SW. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $63.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.30.

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.