Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 30.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,901,172 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,131,147 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $263,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.91 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.35 and a 200 day moving average of $50.69. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52 week low of $38.55 and a 52 week high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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