Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,930,000 shares, a decrease of 8.1% from the July 31st total of 16,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of GPK stock traded up $0.48 on Monday, hitting $29.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,916,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,588,181. Graphic Packaging has a twelve month low of $20.07 and a twelve month high of $30.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.56. The firm has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $59,555,816.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,830,000 after buying an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. KGH Ltd raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 930,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,375,000 after acquiring an additional 184,000 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 3.5% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 215,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after buying an additional 7,298 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 7.6% during the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 83,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after buying an additional 5,885 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

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.