Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Wharton Business Group LLC

Wharton Business Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,492 shares during the quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $3,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $53.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02. 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 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.16.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.