M&T Bank Corp Grows Position in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 290.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,528 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,753 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 977,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,790,000 after purchasing an additional 6,792 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $482,000. Exane Asset Management increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Exane Asset Management now owns 564,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,846,000 after buying an additional 219,545 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,368,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $38.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 12-month low of $32.73 and a 12-month high of $52.65. The company has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 136.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SW shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.91.

Key Smurfit Westrock News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4523 per share (annualized yield ~4.7%); record/ex-dividend timing set for mid-May with payment in June — supports income-focused investors and signals confidence in cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported strong adjusted EBITDA of $1,076 million (14.0% margin) and positive operating cash flow of $204 million, which helps cushion the hit to net income and supports the dividend and balance-sheet stability. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 revenue was $7.712 billion, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.7%); net income was $63 million (0.8% margin). These are factual results investors should weigh alongside margins and cash metrics. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported EPS of $0.33 missed Street expectations (consensus ~$0.36–$0.44) and fell sharply versus last year ($0.73), driven by lower profits; analysts and coverage note weather impacts and weak North American volumes as key headwinds—main driver of the negative share reaction. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors can review the Q1 earnings call transcript for management commentary on volume trends, pricing, and regional performance to assess whether headwinds are temporary. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bullish coverage argues SW remains an attractive pick based on industry positioning and cash-generative operations — relevant for buy-and-hold investors weighing the near-term miss versus longer-term potential. Read More.

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.