Empirical Finance LLC Lowers Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Empirical Finance LLC cut its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SW has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of SW opened at $53.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.52. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 672.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.