Van ECK Associates Corp Cuts Stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,540 shares of the company’s stock after selling 434 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SW. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $8,519,000. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $824,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $1,110,000. Signaturefd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $277,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $870,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 1.7 %

SW stock opened at $53.17 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.16. 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 Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02.

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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

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.