Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 14,840 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,834 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,840 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $2,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SW. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price 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 price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, 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

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $44.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.71 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a one year low of $38.55 and a one year high of $56.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 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.