Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC lessened its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,074,578 shares of the company’s stock after selling 74,880 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $58,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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, Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 4.0 %

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $41.02 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.60. 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 $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 74.58 and a beta of 1.00.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.