Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 874,748 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,551,357 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 874,748 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.68% of Smurfit Westrock worth $191,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,300,041,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $304,377,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 4,456.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,491,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,750,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,587 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $221,026,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,962,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,853,000 after purchasing an additional 4,444,704 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $41.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12 month low of $37.01 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.27 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $45.57 and its 200 day moving average is $49.81.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

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.

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