Korea Investment CORP Has $8.86 Million Holdings in Smurfit Westrock PLC $SW

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its stake in Smurfit Westrock PLC (NYSE:SW) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 208,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,800 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $8,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 113.3% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SW shares. Argus decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Zacks Research raised Smurfit Westrock from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial set a $60.00 price target on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.10.

Smurfit Westrock Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of SW opened at $42.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $22.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 1.06. Smurfit Westrock PLC has a 1 year low of $32.73 and a 1 year high of $52.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.57.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.12). Smurfit Westrock had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 6.10%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Smurfit Westrock’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock PLC will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.4523 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Smurfit Westrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,773,271.44. This represents a 6.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Smurfit Westrock 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.