Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV Raises Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV boosted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock comprises about 0.3% of Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 695 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 55,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SW. Argus initiated coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $53.17 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. 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 Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 3.24%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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. 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.