Blue Trust Inc. Acquires New Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Two investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 1.9 %

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $53.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $27.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.98 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released 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 negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.98%. Research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

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.