Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,117 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,096 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $6,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SW. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased 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 acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 55,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SW stock opened at $45.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a PE ratio of 82.84 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.