First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 448.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 697 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $627,244,000. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $340,848,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of SW opened at $51.77 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 one year low of $38.55 and a one year high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.13 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.40.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,225 shares of company stock worth $2,920,429. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.