Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 587,470 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,828 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $31,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $53.17 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion, a PE ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released 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 return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SW shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.