Groupama Asset Managment Buys 73,003 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 409,695 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 73,003 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $22,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 55,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a PE ratio of 81.91 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52 week low of $38.55 and a 52 week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its 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%. 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost 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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SW. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.