Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Reduces Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,335 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $5,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE:SW opened at $44.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.39 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 fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.62.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid 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 3.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SW. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Truist Financial began 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. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company 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.