Barclays PLC Has $84.24 Million Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Barclays PLC decreased its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 54.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,564,022 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,896,688 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.30% of Smurfit Westrock worth $84,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $1,300,041,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $304,377,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4,456.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,491,092 shares of the company's stock worth $295,750,000 after buying an additional 5,370,587 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $221,026,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,962,433 shares of the company's stock worth $590,853,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444,704 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on SW shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.00.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE SW traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.35. 3,693,719 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,781,294. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.19 and a beta of 1.00. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $37.01 and a 1 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 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.