Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Sold by Wharton Business Group LLC

Wharton Business Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,492 shares during the quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $3,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $627,244,000. FMR LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at $340,848,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of SW stock opened at $53.17 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.16. 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 Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The firm has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02.

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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

About Smurfit Westrock

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.