ARGA Investment Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

ARGA Investment Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,227,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 615,042 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock makes up about 2.2% of ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. ARGA Investment Management LP owned 0.24% of Smurfit Westrock worth $66,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $5,252,000. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $9,405,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth about $597,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $520,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $53.84 on Wednesday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.30. The company has a market cap of $28.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 299.10 and a beta of 1.02.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is currently 672.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

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.