Advisory Services Network LLC Takes $346,000 Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,871,259 shares of the company's stock worth $4,249,613,000 after acquiring an additional 820,362 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $1,300,041,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,328,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $769,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,939 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,962,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,853,000 after buying an additional 4,444,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,849,057 shares of the company's stock worth $530,470,000 after buying an additional 323,225 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company'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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,450,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,745,291. The stock's 50 day moving average is $45.81 and its 200 day moving average is $49.87. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $56.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 77.77 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio 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.