Rathbones Group PLC Sells 8,988 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Rathbones Group PLC lowered its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,102 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,988 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $5,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th 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 $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price target 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, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $39.36 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.13 and its 200 day moving average is $50.55. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a one year low of $37.76 and a one year high of $56.99. The firm has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.56 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.