Van Den Berg Management I Inc. Has $9.73 Million Stock Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Van Den Berg Management I Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 180,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,866 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock accounts for approximately 2.8% of Van Den Berg Management I Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Van Den Berg Management I Inc.’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $9,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $41.95 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.57 and a 200-day moving average of $49.81. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 1-year low of $37.01 and a 1-year high of $56.99. The firm has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.27 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4308 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase 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 4.11%. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is 312.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $2,391,057.90. This represents a 8.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 target price on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.70.

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.