Bridgewater Associates LP Lowers Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 91.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,269 shares of the company's stock after selling 73,327 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.46. The company had a trading volume of 4,760,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,760,289. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $45.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.81. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $37.01 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.19 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.4308 dividend. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SW shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.70.

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.