Geode Capital Management LLC Invests $627.24 Million in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 12,733,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $627,244,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth about $510,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $3,733,000. Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $171,026,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $53.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 296.91 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.48. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a one year low of $38.55 and a one year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.3025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 672.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SW. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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.