Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,639 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,538 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.06% of Smurfit Westrock worth $15,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,519,000. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $227,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $83,000. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $824,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $2,822,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. 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. Truist Financial initiated 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 on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of SW traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $54.06. 2,850,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,380,786. 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 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $28.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.29 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.60 and a 200-day moving average of $49.90.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business'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 directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.