Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd Sells 443,024 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 61.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 443,024 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock makes up 1.8% of Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $15,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $42.28 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $37.01 and a 52 week high of $56.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 76.87 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.70.

Smurfit Westrock 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.