Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 155,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,359,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,252,000. Private Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,405,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 9,581 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $520,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $53.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.89 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $53.60 and its 200-day moving average is $50.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Equities research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SW. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

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.