Boston Partners Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,643,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $304,377,000. Boston Partners owned about 1.08% of Smurfit Westrock at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased 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 during the third quarter worth about $431,653,000. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $340,848,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4,456.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,491,092 shares of the company's stock worth $295,750,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,587 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of SW stock traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.21. 9,219,220 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,572,925. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $51.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.59. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released 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, analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

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 shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SW. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.70.

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.