Lbp Am Sa Trims Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Lbp Am Sa lessened its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,001,503 shares of the company’s stock after selling 909,312 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock accounts for 1.5% of Lbp Am Sa’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Lbp Am Sa owned 0.38% of Smurfit Westrock worth $107,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth 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. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW opened at $43.41 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.94 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $56.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.67.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 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, equities research analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, 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. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

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.