Soros Fund Management LLC Acquires 149,388 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Soros Fund Management LLC raised its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,046,359 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149,388 shares during the period. Smurfit Westrock accounts for approximately 5.7% of Soros Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Soros Fund Management LLC owned 1.35% of Smurfit Westrock worth $379,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% during the fourth 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 bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In related news, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 44,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,391,057.90. This trade represents a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SW. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $57.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.70.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

NYSE SW opened at $42.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 77.38 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.79. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a twelve month low of $37.01 and a twelve month high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Equities analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.4308 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.73%.

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.