Allstate Corp Makes New $823,000 Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 55,898 shares of the company's stock worth $3,011,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock traded down $1.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.02. The stock had a trading volume of 5,923,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,797,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 74.58 and a beta of 1.00. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $56.99.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was 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 on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SW. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.70.

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.