DnB Asset Management AS Has $5.47 Million Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,575 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $5,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake 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 buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

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 stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:SW opened at $44.51 on Monday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52 week low of $38.55 and a 52 week high of $56.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 312.73%.

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.