Slate Path Capital LP Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Slate Path Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 167,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,995,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,300,041,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,377,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4,456.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,491,092 shares of the company's stock worth $295,750,000 after buying an additional 5,370,587 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $221,026,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,962,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,853,000 after acquiring an additional 4,444,704 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SW. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 price objective on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.70.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 111,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, 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.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

SW stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,087,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,747,067. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.78. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 76.87 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. 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 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio is 312.73%.

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.