Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,464 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 55,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SW opened at $45.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.09 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.41 and a 200-day moving average of $50.61.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SW shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

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.