Allstate Corp Buys New Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 15,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SW shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.91 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.35 and its 200 day moving average is $50.69. 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 Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly 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, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 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 3.83%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.