Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its holding in Smurfit Westrock by 5.7% in Q4 to 1,140,824 shares (about $44.12M), and institutional investors now own roughly 83.38% of the stock.
• Smurfit Westrock raised its quarterly dividend to $0.4523 ($1.81 annualized) for a ~4.4% yield, though the dividend payout ratio is a high 136.09%, indicating payouts exceed current earnings.
• Insiders sold shares recently (CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit: 40,000; CFO Ken Bowles: 10,000); the company reported Q EPS of $0.34 on $7.58B revenue and analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average target of $54.18.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,140,824 shares of the company's stock after selling 68,929 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Smurfit Westrock worth $44,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $924,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $102,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 106.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,559,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,006 shares in the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $894,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 13,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $41.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.48. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a one year low of $32.73 and a one year high of $52.65. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $43.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.4523 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.09%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares in the company, valued at $84,660,119.40. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SW. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.18.

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.

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