WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases 11,908 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 102.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,505 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,908 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SW. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 787,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,198,000 after purchasing an additional 56,390 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $409,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 250,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,514,000 after buying an additional 3,127 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 113,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 5,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SW. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was 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 company’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 value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $45.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.59. The stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.67 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52 week low of $38.55 and a 52 week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. On average, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

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.