Polaris Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 3,020,764 Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Polaris Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,020,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,698,000. Smurfit Westrock makes up about 7.8% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 678,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,541,000 after purchasing an additional 183,250 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Smurfit Westrock by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Smurfit Westrock by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 21,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 3,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SW. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $53.50 on Tuesday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12 month low of $38.55 and a 12 month high of $56.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.47. The firm has a market cap of $27.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.22 and a beta of 1.02.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 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 dividend yield of 3.22%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 672.26%.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,221,119.24. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.