Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 1,464 Shares of Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,464 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Smurfit Westrock by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth about $32,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.70.

Insider Transactions at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of Smurfit Westrock stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Smurfit Westrock stock opened at $55.23 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a fifty-two week low of $38.55 and a fifty-two week high of $56.99. The stock has a market cap of $28.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 306.84 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.75.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.23). Smurfit Westrock had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.