Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Lansdowne Partners UK LLP

Lansdowne Partners UK LLP trimmed its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,154,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 938,326 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock comprises approximately 16.3% of Lansdowne Partners UK LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $223,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SW. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $254,000. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,010,000. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,296,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,701,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $537,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $40.81 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $37.01 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The company has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a PE ratio of 74.20 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.