Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP reduced its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 303,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 243,586 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of Smurfit Westrock worth $16,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $627,244,000. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $431,653,000. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $340,848,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $304,377,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $44.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.64. The firm has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99.

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 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

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.