Principal Securities Inc. Acquires 229 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 49.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 695 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $37,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $8,519,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $824,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $1,110,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $870,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at about $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock opened at $52.15 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $53.59 and a 200 day moving average of $50.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.81 and a beta of 1.02. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (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, research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SW. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,225 shares of company stock valued at $2,920,429 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.