Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Insider Ken Bowles Sells 24,225 Shares of Stock

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $54.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $28.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.29 and a beta of 1.02. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1 year low of $38.55 and a 1 year high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. Research analysts forecast that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SW. Argus began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial began coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Smurfit Westrock

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.