FIL Ltd Boosts Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 68.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,962,433 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,444,704 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned about 2.11% of Smurfit Westrock worth $590,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW opened at $39.36 on Tuesday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $37.76 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 71.56 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.55.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.