Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 14.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,912 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $221,026,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,328,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $769,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,939 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,407,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,783,000 after purchasing an additional 135,656 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.4%

SW opened at $43.80 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a one year low of $37.01 and a one year high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.63 and a beta of 1.04.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. The business had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.41 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 161.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 140.98%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 54,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,354.53. This represents a 38.22% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.20.

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.