Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,122,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,041,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 4.63% of Smurfit Westrock at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 23,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 11,908 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 787,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,198,000 after purchasing an additional 56,390 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $409,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 250,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127 shares during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW stock opened at $45.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.43 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.62. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99. 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 (NYSE:SW) last issued 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%. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SW shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target 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 increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.