LPL Financial LLC Has $9.74 Million Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 120.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,908 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,887 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $9,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $41.02 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 74.58 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.44 and a 200-day moving average of $50.58.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

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.