Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,519,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $25,000. CWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW stock opened at $53.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.28 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.52.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. 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 (DPR) is 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.