Norges Bank Takes $1.30 Billion Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 24,122,325 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,041,000. Norges Bank owned about 4.63% of Smurfit Westrock as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company's stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $597,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,039,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $272,049,000 after buying an additional 500,699 shares during the period. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $511,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. 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 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

NYSE:SW traded down $0.89 on Friday, reaching $44.51. 4,134,893 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,790,595. The firm has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.64. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

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.