Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,709 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $8,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,300,041,000. State Street Corp bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $627,244,000. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $340,848,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $304,377,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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 investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 1.2 %

SW opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a PE ratio of 81.91 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.69. 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 52 week low of $38.55 and a 52 week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change 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 3.83%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.