Incentive AS Has $123.09 Million Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Incentive AS grew its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 53.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,285,423 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 797,893 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock comprises about 61.1% of Incentive AS’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Incentive AS’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $123,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 142.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 17,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 10,504 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $130,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 107,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $304,377,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $2,915,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.7 %

SW opened at $45.70 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.09 and a beta of 0.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.