Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 243,586 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $16,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised 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 buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 2.0 %

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $44.51 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52 week low of $38.55 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.64.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its 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 return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.