Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 131,676 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 669,291 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,676 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Smurfit Westrock worth $36,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SW. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $362,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,955,000. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,723,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW opened at $44.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.47 and a beta of 0.99. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.71. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99.

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 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SW. Argus began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

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.