Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,983,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,320,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055,359 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,951,542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $220,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,410 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 7,962,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $196,271,000 after buying an additional 431,818 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,259,000 after buying an additional 328,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 0.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,079,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $119,050,000 after buying an additional 29,189 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.85. 102,050 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,618,598. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.32. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $30.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.15.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction 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 approximately $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile

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.