Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,407,034 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 135,656 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.27% of Smurfit Westrock worth $75,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target 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. 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 target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of SW traded up $1.65 on Tuesday, hitting $55.30. 3,193,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,425,033. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 307.22 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The stock's 50 day moving average is $53.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.76.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 672.26%.

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.