Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Lowers Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,997,901 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,841 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Smurfit Westrock worth $161,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SW. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Argus began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value of $1,333,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of SW stock opened at $46.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.61 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $52.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.68. 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 (NYSE:SW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

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.