IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $1.92 Million Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd cut its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,029 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $45.33 on Thursday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $56.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.43 and a beta of 0.99.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.4308 dividend. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.