Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Insider Sells $1,333,828.50 in Stock

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’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 $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW traded down $1.79 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $53.54. 1,413,815 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,336,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.86 billion, a PE ratio of 97.40 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.90. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

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.