Xponance Inc. Has $5.79 Million Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,522 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $5,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $597,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $520,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,207,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE:SW opened at $45.99 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.53 and a 200-day moving average of $50.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.62 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $38.55 and a twelve month high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently 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.