Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 820,362 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,871,259 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 820,362 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 15.15% of Smurfit Westrock worth $4,249,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $44.94 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.11 and a 200-day moving average of $50.65. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a PE ratio of 81.71 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

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.