Hartford Financial Management Inc. Sells 3,795 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,255 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,795 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SW. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

SW opened at $53.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 296.12 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.19.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.23). Smurfit Westrock had a positive return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 672.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.