Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 8,249 Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GPK. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 546.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the first quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 46.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $30.01 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $22.12 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.40.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

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.