O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,474 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,243 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of SW traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.81. 4,376,632 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,815,946. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.20 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $47.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.22.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the 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 owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SW shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.00.

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.