23,597 Shares in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Purchased by Abacus Planning Group Inc.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,271,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth 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 period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted 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. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % 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 Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.17. 2,515,222 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,587,234. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $53.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion, a PE ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a one year low of $38.55 and a one year 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.