Walnut Level Capital LLC Buys Shares of 65,000 Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Walnut Level Capital LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 65,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,501,000. Smurfit Westrock makes up approximately 1.3% of Walnut Level Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the 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 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 represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $44.21 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.66. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $56.99. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.