Incentive AS Boosts Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Incentive AS grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 53.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,285,423 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 797,893 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock makes up approximately 61.1% of Incentive AS’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Incentive AS owned approximately 0.44% of Smurfit Westrock worth $123,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $45.70 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’s 50 day moving average price is $51.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 83.09 and a beta of 0.99. 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 results 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 given a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 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.