Handelsbanken Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 132,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,110,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SW. Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $507,000. Abacus Planning Group Inc. purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,271,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 110.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 42,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 22,411 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 81,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,377,000 after acquiring an additional 8,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 53,225 shares of company stock worth $2,920,429. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.2 %

SW traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $53.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,625,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,824. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a PE ratio of 97.51 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50-day moving average is $53.56 and its 200-day moving average is $50.36.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 312.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.