Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW Stock Position Reduced by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA decreased its position in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,671 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA owned 0.07% of Smurfit Westrock worth $13,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Smurfit Westrock by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 4.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. 83.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price target on Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus cut their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.73.

Smurfit Westrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $40.18 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.83. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 52 week low of $32.73 and a 52 week high of $52.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.46% 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.