KBC Group NV Grows Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,978 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,239 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $11,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.5 %

SW stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $53.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,986,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,803. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $27.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 295.93 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.19. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.04 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 672.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SW shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.