New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 409,944 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,273 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Smurfit Westrock worth $22,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $627,244,000. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at about $340,848,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SW. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 1.6 %

SW stock traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $53.00. 3,734,658 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,367,865. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a one year low of $38.55 and a one year high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.59 billion, a PE ratio of 96.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.26.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is an increase 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 presently 312.73%.

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.