Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Makes New Investment in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth approximately $340,848,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SW. Argus began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

SW opened at $53.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.67 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.60 and a 200 day moving average of $50.02. 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 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 312.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.