PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 14,405 Shares of Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,063 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,405 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 163,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,319,000 after buying an additional 23,600 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 149,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 112,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after purchasing an additional 7,766 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $691,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $39.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.87 and a 200-day moving average of $40.45. The stock has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a PE ratio of 55.50 and a beta of 0.95. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52-week low of $32.73 and a 52-week high of $52.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 4.5%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 251.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.