Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,288,383 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,766 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.40% of Smurfit Westrock worth $392,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SW. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $627,244,000. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $340,848,000. 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 weighed in on the company. Argus initiated 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. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.15. 4,287,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,374,095. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.59 and a 200 day moving average of $50.56. The company has a market cap of $27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.81 and a beta of 1.02. 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,225 shares of company stock worth $2,920,429. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

About Smurfit Westrock

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.