Norges Bank Buys Shares of 24,122,325 Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 24,122,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,041,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,484 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 23,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 11,908 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 787,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,198,000 after acquiring an additional 56,390 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $409,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 250,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

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. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.43 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.62.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SW. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s 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 $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 available through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.