724,000 Shares in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Bought by Rit Capital Partners PLC

Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 724,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,009,000. Smurfit Westrock comprises approximately 4.7% of Rit Capital Partners PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Rit Capital Partners PLC owned 0.14% of Smurfit Westrock at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SW. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $957,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth about $597,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,342,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth approximately $19,812,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SW shares. Barclays increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $44.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.93 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.51 and its 200 day moving average is $50.64. 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 posted its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

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.