Artemis Investment Management LLP Takes $21.48 Million Position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 398,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,483,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the third quarter worth $967,582,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter worth $627,244,000. FMR LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth about $431,653,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at about $386,712,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $340,848,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SW. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, Argus assumed coverage on Smurfit Westrock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.56.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SW opened at $52.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.56. The firm has a market cap of $27.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 294.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 672.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,221,119.24. This trade represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.49% of the stock is 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.