Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Acquired by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,805,101 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,078,103 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 1.88% of Smurfit Westrock worth $528,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,871,259 shares of the company's stock worth $4,249,613,000 after buying an additional 820,362 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $1,300,041,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,328,052 shares of the company's stock worth $769,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594,939 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $304,377,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 period. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of SW traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.48. 488,634 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,794,693. The stock's 50-day moving average is $47.56 and its 200-day moving average is $50.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $37.01 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a market cap of $21.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.42 and a beta of 1.00.

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 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%. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SW. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.00.

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 transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.