Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,984 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,399 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SW. State Street Corp bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at about $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $340,848,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $53.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $27.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.46 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.22.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 672.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SW shares. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.