Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Takes $8.36 Million Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 155,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,359,000.

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

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $53.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.60 and its 200 day moving average is $50.16. 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 Ltd has a one year low of $38.55 and a one year high of $56.99. The firm has a market cap of $28.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.89 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on SW shares. 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 on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.