Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 8,152 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182,229 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,152 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $9,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,300,041,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $627,244,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $304,377,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 4,456.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,491,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,750,000 after buying an additional 5,370,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $221,026,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.00. 1,417,495 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,770,125. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.70 and a beta of 1.00. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $46.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.03. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $56.99.

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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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, Citigroup increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.00.

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.