Boston Partners Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Boston Partners acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,643,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,377,000. Boston Partners owned approximately 1.08% of Smurfit Westrock at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 55,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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, Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $45.29 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 82.35 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.69. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.