Legal & General Group Plc Has $171.74 Million Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,181,042 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,065,787 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.61% of Smurfit Westrock worth $171,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $254,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $2,010,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,477,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,296,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,701,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,231,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,787,149. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52 week low of $37.01 and a 52 week high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.77 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.16.

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 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%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SW. Citigroup increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This 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.

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.