US Bancorp DE Boosts Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,602 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SW shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $46.53 on Monday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.61 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.