Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Position Cut by Polar Capital Holdings Plc

Polar Capital Holdings Plc reduced its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 85.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,590 shares of the company's stock after selling 449,180 shares during the quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $4,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,871,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,249,613,000 after purchasing an additional 820,362 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,300,041,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 20,720,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,115,996,000 after buying an additional 7,050,781 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 18,439,852 shares of the company's stock worth $993,170,000 after acquiring an additional 318,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,328,052 shares of the company's stock worth $769,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SW traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $46.43. 2,472,255 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,659,216. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $42.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.50. The firm has a market cap of $24.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.42 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Ltd has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.41 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 161.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.7%. Smurfit Westrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 140.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Irial Finan purchased 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $595,207.80. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 54,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,152,354.53. This trade represents a 38.22% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. The trade was a 17.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.