Securian Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Securian Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 26,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,430,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $44.26 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 50-day simple moving average of $51.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.66. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 80.47 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents 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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock 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.