XML Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

XML Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $26,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GPK. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.15.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.6 %

Graphic Packaging stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,361,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,634,229. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.84. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12 month low of $20.07 and a 12 month high of $30.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.31.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging.