Synovus Financial Corp Sells 12,473 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Synovus Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,473 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SW. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 4.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $45.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.48. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $54.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.34%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial set a $60.00 price objective on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.20.

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.