IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $1.92 Million Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lessened its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,029 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $431,653,000. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $340,848,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $304,377,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $45.33 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $50.81 and a 200-day moving average of $50.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.43 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

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.