National Pension Service Has $40.52 Million Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 833.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 752,312 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 671,700 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.14% of Smurfit Westrock worth $40,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,519,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $824,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $1,110,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $870,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

SW stock traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.07. 3,654,759 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,586,015. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a PE ratio of 91.04 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors 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 an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.