Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,594,939 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,328,052 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,594,939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.75% of Smurfit Westrock worth $769,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $5,252,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Smurfit Westrock by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 9,581 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,039,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,049,000 after purchasing an additional 500,699 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $936,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of SW stock opened at $47.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.62 and a beta of 0.99. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $50.00 and its 200 day moving average is $50.67.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend 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.