Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $1.16 Million in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 25,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,161,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 187.6% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 1.7%

SW stock opened at $49.53 on Wednesday. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a fifty-two week low of $32.73 and a fifty-two week high of $52.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.96.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.07). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 4.60% and a net margin of 1.59%.The business had revenue of $8.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.05) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 192.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.62.

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.