Markel Group Inc. Has $8.77 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 39.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 334,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 93,901 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $8,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth about $3,110,000. Greenlight Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,515,000 after purchasing an additional 614,490 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth approximately $935,000. Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,412,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 43.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 202,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,916,000 after buying an additional 61,102 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock traded down $0.48 on Wednesday, reaching $28.84. 1,006,024 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,577,253. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $20.07 and a one year high of $30.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.91 and a 200 day moving average of $27.63. The company has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 5.16 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.10%.

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.