Access Investment Management LLC Sells 2,765 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Access Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 324,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,765 shares during the quarter. Smurfit Westrock makes up about 5.1% of Access Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Access Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Smurfit Westrock worth $17,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

NYSE SW opened at $53.17 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion, a PE ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Smurfit Westrock Company 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.