Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Holdings Cut by Riposte Capital LLC

Riposte Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock makes up 2.0% of Riposte Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Riposte Capital LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $10,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SW. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Walnut Level Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,501,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,871,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,249,613,000 after buying an additional 820,362 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 120.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 180,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,744,000 after acquiring an additional 98,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $9,338,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $44.21 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.66. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.39 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock 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 owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Argus began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

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.