Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 64.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,534 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,099 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.07. 3,654,759 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,586,014. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $53.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.63. 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 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.04 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 3.44%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SW. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.