Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 161,709 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $8,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at $1,300,041,000. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $627,244,000. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth about $340,848,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $304,377,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 assumed coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SW stock opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.69. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $38.55 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The company has a market cap of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.91 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % 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 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.